James Potter and the New Marauders
by Nessie - Pillow Biting Monster
Summary: Why should the story end with Harry, Ron and Hermione? Join their children in a whole new adventure!
1. Chapter 1  Rose's POV

Rose Weasley's POV

I walked as quickly as I could, trying to keep up with my parents. Hugo, my nine-year-old brother, was holding my hand. He was having an even harder time keeping up. I was grateful my parents had decided to push my trolley for me, because it was really heavy, but Ignis, my kneazle, wasn't too happy with how quickly we were moving across the platform. Obviously Mum and Dad didn't quite understand how much shorter legs were when you were eleven years old – or didn't remember anyway – otherwise they'd have slowed down at least a bit so Hugo and I could keep up.

"Do you see them yet?" Hugo asked again, whispering only to me this time.

"I think so." I nodded. "We're heading back to the portal, so Mum and Dad must have seen something," I explained, taking his hand to help him move more quickly. It was only a few moments before the others came into view.

"Hi," Albus breathed, sounding as if he had been worried about something, probably that we wouldn't have shown up.

I beamed at him. He wasn't wearing his robes yet, but from the looks of it, he wasn't quite as excited as I was. I didn't really understand that, because the idea of going to Hogwarts was so exciting after all the stories I'd heard from my parents. It was all so adventurous, in some ways it terrified me, but I was ready. I walked over to stand next to Al when Dad and Uncle Harry started talking about Muggle driving tests. When they'd finished, Dad noticed Lily and Hugo discussing what houses they thought they would be in next year.

"If you're not in Gryffindor, we'll disinherit you," Dad told me, and I felt my eyes widen. "But no pressure."

"_Ron!_" Mum muttered. I listened as the two nine-year-olds laughed, as though it was the funniest thing ever. I gulped and looked at Al, hoping Dad wasn't serious. What if I just wasn't cut out for Gryffindor?

"He doesn't mean it," Mum and Aunt Ginny reassured both Al and I, but I still wasn't sure. Dad wasn't paying attention anymore, though. He and Uncle Harry were both watching a small family move across the platform. It was hard to make out through the mist, but Dad and Uncle Harry seemed to know them.

"Look who it is," Dad muttered. _Who?_ I wondered, looking at the man, his wife and the boy who looked to be around my age. "So that's little Scorpius." He nodded to himself. I was sure he was talking about the boy, otherwise, why would he have called him _little_ Scorpius? "Make sure you beat him in every test, Rosie. Thank God you inherited your mother's brains," he said, looking at me again.

"Ron, for heaven's sake," Mum scolded him, sounding angry. "Don't try to turn them against each other before they've even started school!" I tried to hold back a giggle, it wasn't often that my parents got angry with each other, but Mum tended to be emotional, and Dad tended to shrug it off. He was obviously used to getting in trouble with Mum for things he said.

"You're right, sorry," Dad said, suddenly serious and cleared his throat. It seemed as if he was deciding whether or not to say something, then he suddenly blurted. "Don't get _too_ friendly with him, though, Rosie. Grandad Weasley would never forgive you if you married a pureblood." I gasped, ready to say something in response, but before I could speak, I was cut off.

"Hey!"James yelled, running towards us. I had assumed he had been on the train already, but apparently not. He didn't have his trolley or any of his luggage, so he had probably loaded them on the train already. He seemed as if he was ready to explode or something if he didn't share the news he had.

"Teddy's back there!" he said, breathlessly. He pointed over his shoulder, showing us the general direction he'd seen Teddy in. "Just seen him! And guess what he's doing? _Snogging Victoire_!" he announced, his eyes shining with excitement.

He was staring up at the adults and seemed to be disappointed by the lack of a response he was getting. He sighed, deciding he needed to say more.

"_Our_ Teddy! _Teddy Lupin!_ Snogging _our _Victoire! _Our _cousin! And I asked Teddy what he was doing– "

"You interrupted them?" Aunt Ginny asked, giving him a glare rivaling any I'd seen, even from Mum, or some of the other women in the family. _That_ was saying something. "You are _so_ like Ron–"

"–And he said he'd come to see her off! And then he told me to go away! He's _snogging_ her!" James added again, obviously ignoring his mum.

"Oh, it would be lovely if they got married," Lily whispered, sounding as if it was the most amazing idea in the world. She spoke in only the way a nine-year-old girl could. "Teddy would _really_ be part of the family then!"

"He already comes round for dinner about four times a week," Uncle Harry noted. "Why don't we just invite him to live with us and have done with it?"

"Yeah!" James gasped enthusiastically. He obviously really liked Teddy. "I don't mind sharing a room with Al – Teddy could have my room!" I looked at Al as James spoke, and Al looked mortified. He seemed to relax a bit when his dad spoke again.

"No," he said, firmly. "You and Al will share a room only when I want the house demolished." I held back another giggle; you would only say something like that to a boy. My parents would never worry about Hugo and I sharing a room, not that we needed to, our home was large enough that it wasn't necessary.

"It's nearly eleven," Uncle Harry told us all. "You'd better get on board."

"Don't forget to give Neville our love," Aunt Ginny told James as she hugged him.

"Mum! I can't give a Professor _love_!" James told her, sounding utterly mortified by the thought.

"But you _know_ Neville!" she insisted, receiving an eye roll from James.

"Outside, yeah, but at school he's Professor Longbottom, isn't he? I can't walk into Herbology and give him _love_..." He shook his head, and tried to kick Albus. "See you later Al, watch out for the Thestrals." he grinned.

"I thought they were invisible? _You said they were invisible!_" Al gasped, his eyes wide. James just laughed, before receiving a kiss from his mum, hugging his dad, then running to the train. I walked over to my parents who had finished putting my things on the train for me; I was a bit too small to do it by myself. I smiled, excited to get going, but I was also afraid. The longest I'd been away from home had been for holidays at other family member's homes, or staying the night with a cousin. Sometimes even for activities with the Muggle school I had attended up until now. But now I wouldn't see my parents and Hugo until _Christmas_, and that was three whole months! Far too long in my opinion. Mum knelt down and hugged me.

"We'll miss you, Rosie," she told me, giving me a kiss on the cheek. "We'll write you, and keep you updated on things at home," she promised, hugging me tightly for a moment before standing up and letting Dad say goodbye.

"I think your Mum summed it all up, just remember what I told you." He winked and smiled, before hugging me.

"I'll miss you all," I smiled as Dad stood up. "I'll write you first thing in the morning after I'm sorted and let you know what house I'm in," I told them, before walking over to Hugo and hugging him goodbye. I waved as I started quickly over to the train, searching for Al the whole time. Finally I spotted him, just ahead of me. I'd catch him once we were both on the train.

I noticed his dad was standing with Aunt Ginny and Lily, watching together with my parents and Hugo. I jumped onto the train, and put my hand on Al's shoulder. "Al! There you are!" I smiled. "I was pushed back by _all this crowd_ and thought you went to another compartment in the meantime." I walked forward and slipped into an empty compartment, with Al right behind me. As soon as I was inside I rushed to the window, opened the window, waved at my family, and heard Al speak.

"Why are they all staring?" he asked, probably talking to his dad.

"Don't let it worry you." Dad grinned. "It's me. I'm extremely famous." I caught him wink at me. I laughed, along with Al, Hugo and Lily. Just then I felt the train start to move forward, and I started waving even more than I had been, waiting until the train was around the corner, and all the parents were out of view, before I stopped and put the window up. I sat down across from Al, who had already taken a seat. I noticed that next to me Ignis had already sprawled out on the seat, and I silently thanked my mother for letting him out of his cage. He didn't like being cooped up, especially in unfamiliar places. I saw him start to move, and one of his bright yellow eyes opened, and he jumped up onto my lap. I started stroking his fur, and I looked out the window, amazed that this day was finally here. I'd been waiting for eleven years. On my birthday, I'd spent the whole day watching the sky for an owl. And it had come, oh it_ had_ come – I'd been so excited! And then the day we'd all gone to Diagon Alley – well, that place was incredible! Everything was still so fresh in my memories, that it feels like I was there only yesterday.

I paced the floor near where my parents were standing, itching with excited anxiousness. "Let's go already!" I pleaded, looking around the Leaky Cauldron. Mum and Dad had decided that they wanted to socialize with the many friends they had seen taking their children to go school-shopping. I just wanted to get going already, I mean... we _were_ supposed to meet Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny, and for all we knew, they were there already! Of course, it could just be the fact that I was excited, and if my parents understood eleven-year-olds, well, we don't like waiting much. Especially when we're excited.

"Calm down, Rosie, we'll go in a moment," Dad reassured me, and I sighed, sitting down at the empty table we were standing next to. Usually, when an adult said "a moment", it ended up being much, much longer. Especially when it was my parents, and we were in the Leaky Cauldron...

"Hey there, Rose," a soft voice greeted me, and a girl I recognized, Kate Longbottom – Hannah, the owner of the Leaky Cauldron, was her mother, and Neville, the Herbology professor at Hogwarts, was her father – sat across from me.

"Hello Kate," I smiled. "Have you finished your school shopping yet?" I asked, glad to have someone closer to my age to talk to while I waited.

"Yeah, well, most of my things are secondhand from my brother, but there were some things we had to get new," she explained. "Have you gone yet?"

I shook my head, frowning. "We're going today, that's why we're here – but obviously adults like to talk more than anything else."

Kate laughed and nodded. "I know what you mean, I remember how excited I was to go shopping for my first year of school. I waited all day for Mum to be ready to go, because she couldn't leave the pub with all the people passing through during the few weeks before school started," she shrugged. "I'm sure you'll be leaving soon, though,"

"Yeah. I sure hope so." I laughed.

"Well, I'd better get back to work, helping Mum. It's too busy for her to take care of all this by herself," Kate told me, gesturing to the chaos around us. I nodded.

"Okay, Kate, see you later, probably at school," I told her, watching her walk up the stairs to go help a complaining tenant. I sighed and noticed that my parents and the adults they were talking to at the moment were saying goodbye. _Finally. _I smiled, standing up immediately as the other family started to walk away.

"Are we going now?" I asked hopefully, trying not to sound too anxious.

"Yes, Rose, we're going now." Mum nodded, smiling. She held out her hand, obviously not trusting me to go off on my own. True, I had been known to wander off on occasion, but I had been much younger then. I sighed, and took her hand.

"I don't remember ever being this impatient, do you, Hermione?" Dad asked, laughing as he started to walk into Diagon Alley.

"Yes. I remember you being this impatient. I also remember you and Harry being completely and totally reckless and almost getting all of us killed on multiple occasions," she pointed out with a glare, and I couldn't help a giggle.

"Now, I think you might be exaggerating a bit," Dad defended, his eyebrows scrunching together.

"Am I now?" Mum asked, laughing. I was suddenly too amazed to listen to more of their conversation, this place... it was packed with people, all trying (unsuccessfully) to dress as Muggles, probably because not all of them used Floo Powder.

"Where are we going to go first?" I asked, looking excitedly from Mum to Dad.

"Well, there are a few places. I think we'll get your robes and books last, how about we go and get your wand first?" Dad suggested, to which I nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah! I like that idea!" I exclaimed, smiling. "I like that idea a lot." I was ready to get my own wand, and really, who wouldn't be? A wand! A real wand! I couldn't wait to start doing magic, it was exciting.

"Alright, alright," Mum laughed. "You really like that idea, we understand." We started to push through the crowd. There were so many different people, I was amazed. I'd never seen such a variety in my entire life! I mean, it was true that I had spent most of my life at the Burrow, but sometimes I went to the Ministry with Mum, and sometimes I'd go to visit my cousins, but I'd still never seen anything like this.

"Come on, Rose!" Dad called, he was already walking, and Mum was waiting until I was ready.

"Oh. Sorry!" I laughed, and started walking again.

"Right." He nodded. "Olivanders, now. Or it'll be too packed and you'll never get a wand," he warned.

"Ron!" Mum whispered, her voice rising in pitch, "don't tell her that!"

"Well, she was walking _so slow_!" Dad told her, almost whining. "She knows I was only joking anyway, don't you Rosie?"

"I don't know about that, you seem to be 'only joking' a lot lately, and I don't know what to believe," I stated, continuing to walk forward with Mum. Dad followed closely, seeming a bit annoyed.

We walked for a few moments before Mum turned, and I saw an old sign above the shop in front of us. It read 'Olivander's Wands, Since 382 B.C. ', I smiled. This was it, the wand shop Mum and Dad had told me about and I was itching to go inside. Finally after a moment of what seemed to be nostalgia, or something of the sort, Mum started walking again, and opened the door. All of us walked inside, and were greeted by a very old-looking man, as well as a man who looked very similar to him, but younger.

"Hello, Mr. Olivander!" Mum smiled at the older man. He looked at her, confused for a moment, then a wave of recognition passed over his face.

"Hermione Granger." He smiled. "I thought I'd be seeing you again soon,"

"Well, it's Weasley now," she laughed, "but yes, I'm here with Rose, and Ron is here too. Rose is going school shopping, she's starting at Hogwarts this year," Mum stated, proudly. "We decided to come get her wand first."

"Well, Miss Rose. It's nice to meet you, your parents are good friends of mine, they, along with Harry Potter, saved my life once, nearly twenty years ago now, isn't it?" Mr. Olivander smiled, looking at me now. "Let's see what we can do about getting you a wand, shall we?" He nodded to himself and walked over to the many shelves filled with small, long wand boxes. "Now, I remember your parents' wands. Your mother's... let's see, that was vine, 10 ½ inches, dragon heartstring core. Your father, in his second year at Hogwarts, broke the wand his brother Charlie had passed down to him, he got a new one before he started his third year," he noted, and I watched Dad's ears turn bright red, as they often did when he was embarrassed. "His second wand was let me think… Willow. 14 inches, unicorn hair core. Very nice wand," Olivander winked at me, and brought out a box.

"This one, is Beech Wood, 12 inches, with a core of dragon heartstring,**_very nice for any spellwork_****"** he smiled, handing me the wand. I took it, and felt a kind of warmth flow through me.

"Well well, this is a very rare and indeed surprising thing. It isn't often that the first wand you try is the wand for you," the old man admitted, with a small smile.

"'S true! I had to go through 'bout twenty!" Dad grumbled, and took out a small sack of Galleons, before walking to the desk where the younger man was waiting to make the exchange of money for wand. Minutes later we were walking through the streets, with a shopping bag that held my wand in Mum's larger bag (she didn't want anything to happen to it).

"Let's go to Flourish and Blotts next, shall we?" Mum suggested, but before either Dad or I could respond, she continued speaking. "No, no, that doesn't sound like a great idea. I mean, books are heavy, we should get them last, that way it will be easier to transport everything home," she announced. "Rose, why don't you and Dad go visit George, and I'll go get everything you'll need but your books and robes? It'll be much easier that way."

"Alright, Mum. See you in a bit then," I smiled, before taking Dad's hand and walking along with him to Uncle George's joke shop. This was a wonderful place; I'd spent a lot of time here with Dad and Uncle George while I was growing up. Dad often came to help Uncle George with small things he needed done, and I liked to tag along. Joke shops had proven to be quite entertaining for children like me, who, although were smart, didn't necessarily like following the rules all the time.

It didn't take Mum long to return, and George decided I needed some special treats for school, so he promised to send a few products along as soon as he could. He knew Mum well enough to know she wouldn't approve of having joke items at school. So, it was with a hug from George and Angelina that we headed off to get my books. That didn't take long. From that point we needed to get my robes, then we were finished.

Getting robes was the most boring experience of my life. The room was small and smelly, and the short witch, Madam Malkin, was struggling so much with getting all the students fitted properly that she didn't seem to notice when she stabbed me with a pin for what must have been the twentieth time. From where I was standing I could easily spot anyone who came in.

"Hey Al!" I greeted as I saw my cousin, waving happily.

"Hi, Rose! Hi, Aunt Hermione!" Al responded as he approached. Mum smiled at him before walking away, and Dad approached and kissed my forehead, before Madam Malkin got angry and shooed him so she could finish adjusting my robes.

"I'm so excited!" I exclaimed, smiling at Al. "We're finally going to Hogwarts!"

"Yes, we are," he agreed, smiling as well.

It took a few more minutes of adjustment to finish my robes, so I stood talking to Al.

"I want to go buy a pigmy puff later today!" I decided.

"But, why? I mean, you have Ignis, the kneazle. Plus let me remind you that he would happily _eat_ the pigmy puff if you let him." Al pointed out.

"Oh, yes, you're right! But it's okay!" I grinned.

"There you go, young lady, it's all set. Go ahead and change. I think I saw your mother at the front." Madam Malkin told me finally, and I nodded, jumping down.

We all headed off to get Al his wand, which didn't take too long. After that we went to get Al an owl.

"How come Hugo didn't come along?" Al asked.

"He preferred to sit and play Quidditch with Louis and some friends of his."

From the back of the store came our oldest cousin, Roxanne, Uncle George's daughter. She was Fred's twin sister, although they were so different. Fred was a troublemaker. That's why he made such a good pair with Al's brother, James. "Hi, Rosie. Al. Did you two finish with your school supplies?" Roxanne asked.

"Yes, just now. Look at my owl!" Al beamed, holding out his new pet.

"Awww, that's a pretty owl. Got a name yet?"

"No," Al shook his head, looking a little discouraged. "Are James and Fred here?"

"Hey, cuz!" Fred said, he was standing behind Al. I jumped at the suddenness of his approach. "Missed us, didn't you?"

"Yes, sure, it went all quiet without you two around." Al admitted.

"Where were you this time? Hopefully not throwing stink pellets at anybody?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Us? Of course not, we were just being nice and quiet as usual. You know us. Never cause trouble. Do we, James?" Fred asked, looking at Albus's older brother.

"Huh?" James asked after a moment, clearly distracted. Something was obviously up. "Yeah, yeah…" He nodded and Al started talking quietly to him.

I pulled myself out of the memory and held out Ignis's favourite toy, trying to lure him away from Al's shoe. I didn't see how the lace was that entertaining, but to each his own.

I gasped, as I looked out the window of the train and saw water all around us. "Look at the sea over there, Al!" I finally stopped trying to lure Ignis away, knowing it was no use. If my kneazle wanted to get that lace, he'd have it..

"Do you kids want anything?" A small witch asked as she stood in the corridor of the train with a trolley filled with sweets.

"Sure!" Both Al and I exclaimed after exchanging grins.

It took a moment for me to decide what I wanted, but finally I settled on a pack of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. Al got a few Chocolate Frogs, and immediately opened one, only for it to escape. An apparently welcome treat from Ignis who snatched it immediately. I looked at Al apologetically, he shrugged and I glanced out the window. This was going to be a long train ride.


	2. Chapter 1 Albus's POV

Chapter One ~ Albus's POV

We hurried through the crowed station to get to the platform. As was usual when we had to go somewhere together as a family, we did not get there in time. Lily was pulling Dad's sleeve, brushing the tears from her eyes. She wanted to get on the train. I knew that feeling. That had been me a year ago. I looked at the clock on a column of the station. It was just ten to eleven_. We have to hurry or we'd miss the train!_ I quickened my pace a little, pushing my trolley faster.

James imitated me, catching up with a grin, and said, "Hmmm, I wonder where the Sorting Hat will place you. Maybe you'll be a Slytherin."

"I _won't_! I _won't_ be in Slytherin!"

"James, give it a rest," said Mum.

"I only said he _might_ be," James said, grinning at me. "There's nothing wrong with being Slyth-" James fell silent after meeting Mum's glare. Mum's eyes could look pretty scary when she wanted them to. It was just like Grandma Molly. Really sweet most of the time, but can send someone running for dear life with just a look, if she willed it.

The barrier came in view, and for a second, I stopped on my tracks. I had seen James go through it last year, and I had gone through it myself, but it was never easy to run towards… a wall. James gave me a cocky grin and ran through the barrier, vanishing from view of all those oblivious Muggles.

"You'll write to me, won't you?" I asked my parents, looking anxiously at Dad. He was holding Lily in his arms now, and she had grown quiet.

"Every day, if you want us to," Mum assured me.

"Not every day," I objected, thinking of what James told me about it. "James says most people only get letters from home once a month."

"We wrote James three times a week last year," Mum said, smiling.

"And you don't want to believe everything he tells you about Hogwarts," Dad added. "He likes a laugh, your brother." _Yes, indeed, he does_. I knew that first-hand.

Mum and Dad came to my sides and helped me push the trolley forward, gathering speed and running toward the inevitable collision with the wall. Only it never came. Instead we were in the smoke-filled Platform 9 ¾, mingling with a big crowd of wizards and witches with their families. James had already vanished in the steamy platform, and I couldn't see him.

"Where are they?" I asked anxiously, observing the figures of the people walking across the platform.

In the haze, I couldn't make out faces; I just saw bodies, tall, short, fat, thin, making their way across the alley or standing and talking to people they knew. The voices echoed in the station over and over again, and I could hear them in an unnaturally loud climax. It sounded like that time when we had the family gathering at the Burrow for Christmas and Uncle Percy used the Sonorous Charm to make his voice louder to be heard over all the noise we were making.

And speak of the devil; I could hear Uncle Percy talking to his daughter, Lucy, about broomstick regulations. Poor Lucy! She must have known every single regulation of Hogwarts by heart.

"I think that's them, Al," said Mum abruptly.

I could finally make out my cousins, Rose and Hugo, through the mist. I ran towards them, and my parents and Lily followed right behind me.

"Hi," I said, relieved to see that they had all arrived in time as well.

Rose was already in her school robes and was beaming. Of course she was. In Diagon Alley, she could barely stand still long enough to have her robe fitted. She must have been thrilled to be finally wearing it.

Rose and I approached Lily and Hugo, who were talking about which House they thought they'd get sorted into. Why _that_ talk again? _We know we're all going to be in Gryffindor, so stop this already!_

"If you're not in Gryffindor, I will disinherit you," Uncle Ronald said, and I suddenly spun toward him. "But no pressure." He grinned.

"Ron!" Aunt Hermione exclaimed and punched his arm playfully.

Hugo and Lily laughed, but honestly, I couldn't see what was funny about it. Judging from her look, Rose seemed to share the same thoughts with me.

"He doesn't mean it," Aunt Hermione and Mum said, but Uncle Ronald seemed absorbed from his discussion with Dad and didn't pay attention to us anymore. After a while, they walked away from us, barely visible in the mist now.

From the corner of my eye, I caught sight of a thin, pale boy with really fair blond hair and pale eyes. His trolley was standing in front of him with a big pile of luggage on it. On top was a small cage to transport animals like cats, but I couldn't make out what was inside; I just saw a fluffy, white-grey striped tail. His father was keeping a safe distance from the cage, as if it had stink pellets in it and not an animal. Or it may just have been my idea. The man gave a short nod of acknowledgement in our direction but soon walked away.

"So that's little Scorpius. Make sure you beat him in every test, Rosie. Thank God you inherited your mother's brains."

"Ron, for heaven's sake! Don't try to turn them against each other before they even started school!" said Aunt Hermione.

"You're right, sorry," he said. "Don't get _too_ friendly with him, though, Rosie. Granddad Weasley would never forgive you if you married a pureblood."

"Hey!" James said, showing up from the mist. He had obviously put his trunk and owl on the train and all he carried was big news. It was written all over his face. I bet he'd explode if he wouldn't tell us soon. "Teddy's back there," he announced, trying to catch his breath. "Just seen him! And guess what he's doing! _Snogging Victoire!_"

He glanced up at the adults, annoyed by the lack of reaction from them.

"_Our _Teddy! _Teddy Lupin!_ Snogging _our _Victoire! _Our cousin!_ I asked him what he was doing—"

"You interrupted them?" Mum asked. "You are _so_ like Ron…"

"—and he said he'd come to see her off! And then he told me to go away! He's _snogging_ her!" James repeated, with his typical, "Hello? Don't you see?" look, afraid he hadn't made himself clear.

"Oh, it would be lovely if they got married!" Lily whispered. "Teddy would be _really_ part of the family then!"

"He already comes around for dinner about four times a week," Dad said. "Why don't we just invite him to live with us and have done with it?"

"Yeah!" said James enthusiastically. "I don't mind sharing a room with Al— Teddy could have my room!"

_Um… Did anybody ask _me_?_

"No," said Dad firmly. "You and Al will share a room only when I want the house demolished." _Thank God, someone is still rational in this family! _Dad checked the battered old watch on his wrist, and told us,"It's nearly eleven. You'd better get on board."

"Don't forget to give Neville our love!" Mum told James as she hugged him.

"Mum! I can't give a professor _love_!" James objected, looking horrified at the prospect of it.

"But you know Neville!—"

James rolled his eyes.

"Outside, yeah, but at school he's Professor Longbottom, isn't he? I can't walk into Herbology and give him _love_… " Shaking his head, he vented his feelings by aiming a kick at me. "See you later, Al. Watch out for the thestrals."

"I thought they were invisible? You said they were invisible!" I said in a panic.

But James merely laughed, permitted Mum to kiss him, gave Dad a fleeting hug, then leapt onto the rapidly filling train. He waved once more, going to the compartment where all his friends were.

"Thestrals are nothing to worry about," Dad told me. "They're gentle things. There's nothing scary about them. Anyway, you won't be going up to school in the carriages; you'll be going in the boats."

Mum kissed me goodbye. "See you at Christmas."

"Bye, Al," said Dad as I hugged him tightly. "Don't forget Hagrid's invited you to tea next Friday. Don't mess with Peeves. Don't duel anyone till you've learned how. And don't let James wind you up."

"What if I'm in Slytherin?" I whispered so silently that only Dad could hear me in the platform's buzz. I knew that if I hadn't told him now, it would keep tormenting me all the way to Hogwarts and until the Sorting Hat was finally on my head.

Dad crouched down so that my face was slightly above his own.

"Albus Severus," Dad said quietly, so that nobody but I could hear, "you were named for two headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was a Slytherin, and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew."

"But just say—"

"—then Slytherin House will have gained an excellent student, won't it? It doesn't matter to us, Al. But if it matters to you, you'll be able to choose Gryffindor over Slytherin. The Sorting Hat takes your choice into account."

"Really?"

"It did for me," said Dad sincerely. Dad's eyes glistened through his round glasses, and I felt like he had confided in me something that nobody else knew. He had never told James or Lily, as far as I knew.

I watched my father's face with with wonder as he quickly got on his feet and gave me a last pat on the back. I climbed into the train, and Mum closed the door behind me.

I squeezed myself between the other students in the compartment, trying to get to the inner wall. I stretched on my toes to reach the part of the window that was open and waved at my parents as the train started moving. Dad ran across the platform next to the train, waving goodbye, and came to a stop where the platform ended. I glimpsed him slipping his glasses back in place.

Platform 9 ¾ was fading away as the train sped up, until I couldn't make out anything at this distance other than the dense smoke surrounding us. Everyone started pulling away from the windows and, dragging their friends along, went to sit.

"Al! There you are!" said Rose, placing a hand on my shoulder. "I was pushed back by _all this crowd_ and thought you went to another compartment in the meantime."

She smiled and opened a door, where she'd already put her things. Her kneazle, Ignis, had sprawled on the booth, taking over the corner by the window. He was just half a year old but had really fluffy fur and a long tail that made him look huge. His fur was a pale orange with sandy freckles. He opened his big, cat-like yellow eyes lazily, glancing at us, and leapt on Rose's lap as she sat down on the booth. I sat opposite her and leaned against the window, looking at the view outside.

I was finally here. I was finally going to Hogwarts. I thought about the day the owl with my letter arrived, while we were having breakfast. I had torn the envelope in my hurry to read the letter inside. Lily had wanted her own letter, which wasn't due to come for the next two years.

I shook my head at the thought, and my mind ran back at the day when we finally went to Diagon Alley for our school supplies and clothes…

Dad asked James to go ahead and be the first to use Floo powder. It was the end of August, almost a week before school started, and everyone, Muggles and wizards alike, were out in the streets for the annual school supplies hunt, which meant one thing: traffic jam. At such times, Floo powder came really handy. What was a little dust on our clothes if we managed to avoid two exhausting hours behind the wheel?

James threw the powder in fireplace and stepped in it, causing the flames to turn green and smoke to wrap around him. For a second, I thought he'd pronounced the destination wrong, but then he repeated it, loud and clear. When the smoke cleared, he was gone.

"Come on, Al, your turn," Dad told me as he straightened his glasses. He caught my wrist and walked with me to the fireplace, stopping in front of it.

I grabbed a handful of powder from the small pot by the fireplace – Grandma Molly's patent that Mum had adopted, as well – and threw the powder in, making the flames turn a sparkling, harmless emerald green again. I stepped into the fireplace and Dad placed a hand on my shoulder, as if he didn't trust me to use the Floo network on my own. Knowing there was no way around it, I said as clearly as I could, "Leaky Cauldron!"

The usual feeling of nausea overwhelmed me, making me feel like I was being squeezed through a very narrow, spinning tube, but soon enough the feeling was gone and I was standing in the fireplace of the Leaky Cauldron. A few seconds later, Dad showed up behind me, and Lily with Mum followed and dusted themselves off.

I saw James staring at some odd man with a hood covering the most of his face. When the man looked up at me, I turned away, making my way towards the room where the passage to Diagon Alley was.

"Hi, Ginny, Harry. Came for family shopping, I see?" Mrs. Hannah, an old classmate of my parents, asked. She waved her wand, moving a glass of butterbeer towards a table where an old woman resembling a hag sat. I easily recognized what she was, because one had tried to approach James last year. James had that _thing_ with trouble. There was always something or someone coming for him. Sometimes that was just Grandpa Arthur's old and partially blind owl, Errol, who tended to see him as a short owl nest, and some other times, it was scary creatures such as hags.

"Yeah, we have to get everything in the list for Albus and James. Is the list growing longer every year or what?" Mum asked, smiling.

"Tell me about it. David graduated last year and just his books had cost us a fortune! Thankfully, we didn't have to buy all of Kate's books; she has some second-hand from David's fifth year." Mrs. Hannah was married to my parents' good friend and my to-be Herbology teacher, Neville Longbottom, had two children, David and Kate, and had become the landlady of the Leaky Cauldron some years ago.

My parents nodded. "It was nice talking to you, Hannah. We've got to hurry to get everything! Have a nice day!" Dad said and led us all towards the little storage room where the passage was. He pulled his wand out of his cloak and tapped on several bricks until the wall shifted, repositioning itself so that it created an archway to Diagon Alley.

James waved his list in front of Mum, and she took it, saying where we should go and what to buy. James was, as always, impatient to find our cousin, Fred, and was about to leave, but Dad stopped him.

"You need to get your school supplies first." James rolled his eyes, which earned him a disapproving look from Mum.

Lily took my hand, and we headed towards Flourish and Blotts first. James's books were too many, so Mum and Dad said that we'd buy his first, Mum would use the Floo network to get them back home, and she'd come again so that we could buy my books as well. Lily was holding my list, grinning, as if it were hers. I didn't mention it, though, because I knew that that would mean a lot of complaining and crying.

After that, we went to Amanuensis Quills to get quills and bottles of ink for James and me. James was practically glued to the part of the shop with the colourful inks and the quills that changed their ink colour or performed dictations. He asked Dad to get him ink that changed colour, but Dad refused, to James's dismay. Scrubbulus Writing Instruments was next because Amanuensis Quills had run out of parchment. No surprise with so many students around! Everywhere I looked, I could see other children my age or older, going with their families or alone for the usual autumn shopping.

Everything was so fascinating! I dragged Mum and Dad to Broomstix to look at the newest broom models and Quidditch equipment. Dad placed a hand on my shoulder and made me look at him.

"There's a better shop right down the corner. That's where they made my Nimbus 2000, as well as my Firebolt later," Dad said.

He showed me the way, and I rushed in. The old-fashioned bell dinged as we entered. Many students were looking at the various merchandises, but most were just glued to the window from the outside. Dad showed me the latest broomsticks while Mum asked the salesman for a new Broom Servicing Kit, as she had ran out of wax and needed it for her broomstick. She had a Quidditch match coming soon with her team, the Hollyhead Harpies, against Karasjok Kites, a Norwegian team.

We also stopped by Madam Malkin's to get my robes, and after she took measurements for it, she said it would be ready for us to pick up in a couple of hours. Poor Madam Malkin looked really swamped with all these orders from all the students. It must have been a hectic season for her.

Slug & Jiggers Apothecary was next in the list. We picked up all the potion ingredients James needed for class; they were also many, and Mum said that we'd come for mine later in the day, right after we got my books. James, of course, was fascinated by the weirdest goods of the shop, and asked Dad to get him a shrunken skull or something like that. You didn't have to be a genius to know what Dad's answer would be. Lily was standing on a stool to reach the counter and picked at some fresh fire salamander tails. Because they were still freshly cut – according to the owner – they kept twitching every time Lily touched them, which she found really entertaining. In the end, Mum got her one to keep her occupied during the rest of our shopping.

When we were finally done with James's shopping, Mum rushed back into the Leaky Cauldron, and about ten minutes later she showed up in the pub's fireplace again with empty hands. Lily and I were eating ice cream from Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. Dad had told me that Florean Fortescue had been "dragged away" the same year the big battle in Hogwarts took place, but luckily for him he was safe and alive after it, so he was still in Diagon Alley and ready for business. And of course, still selling the best ice creams in the place. James had run off somewhere with Fred in the meantime.

Mum approached us, and smiled. "Al, we have to go to Gringotts to get some money and then we can go ahead and buy the rest of your stuff. Will you come with us in the bank? Or would you prefer to go and greet George instead?"

Lily was already on her feet and held Dad's hand.

I nodded. "I'll stay."

"Okay. Just don't go far, stay in the shop or wait for us here," Dad said. "Oh, and Ron said he'd come to Diagon Alley as well. If you see him, tell him that I want to talk to him."

"Sure thing, Dad," I assured him, and sprinted towards Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.

I saw Uncle George near the counter, surrounded by children and teenagers of all ages and sizes, asking him about this and that. I wanted patiently by the window, where the pigmy puffs were, and slid in a finger through the cage's bars, tickling one on the head while I was finishing my ice cream.

My uncle gave a boy a set of cards to do various "Muggle-style" tricks, and started searching for the mother of a little, black-haired girl with pigtails, who was begging him to convince her mum to get her some cauldron pasties that made your hair grow longer. Uncle George took the girl's hand, and led her through the shop until he found her mother by the Wonderwitch Products stand. She scolded the little girl and pulled her child to the "pre-school" section; that didn't make the hair-lengthening pasties leave the little girl's mind though.

"Hey! There's my nephew!" Uncle George called from the crowd excitedly and came towards me, ruffling my hair. "School supplies day, huh? Freddy has driven me crazy. He's been in the shop all day. I sent him to get some air." Uncle George scratched his head right over the spot where his ear should be. I knew the story of how he lost it, but didn't think the sight was weird or scary. That was how I'd known Uncle George since... um… always.

"I bet that James found him already."

"Ah, great. The two little devils together. These kids are so similar to my brother and me. He was just as noisy! At least he can't trick his mother that he's his twin, like Fred and I used to do…" He said sadly, having that melancholic face he always did when he talked about his brother.

"Is Roxanne here?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

"Yes, of course. She's in the back. I sent her to get the box with the tricky shoes. The whole shelf I filled with them this morning is empty now. I didn't even realize that all of them were sold out!"

I gave my uncle a questioning look.

"It's the new trick I made," he explained to me. "A pair of shoes whose laces try to tie themselves together every time someone wears them, and cause that person trip and fall." He grinned. "Want a pair?"

"Me? Sure!" I walked to the counter and sat on the stood behind it. "Um… Uncle George? Can you do me a favour?"

"Sure thing, kiddo."

"Can you make sure James doesn't find out about the shoes? Maybe I'll finally manage to pull a prank on him! It would be really funny to see him falling for this!"

"You might as well take a picture. I want to make an album with funny moments of everyone. James getting tricked would make a great addition to it." He walked over to the shelf with the portable swamps, and straightened a package that was on the verge of falling on the floor. It wouldn't be fun if the whole shop turned into a huge swamp… I really wouldn't want to be around to see _that_! "Hurry, and tell Roxanne to let them in the storage for today. Verity can bring them up tomorrow."

I nodded and pushed the door behind the counter open, almost falling on Verity, Uncle George's blond employee. She caught me right before I fell on her. "Oops. Be careful, Albus."

"Hi, Verity. Thanks."

I walked past her and ran down the stairs that led to the storage, meeting Roxanne halfway with a big box on her hand. Her brown hair looked even darker in the faint light of the oil lamps here.

"Hey, Al!" She greeted me, and put the box down to hug me.

"Hi, Roxanne."

"What's up?" She asked.

"Actually, I was coming to find you. Your dad said that you should let the box down. He won't put more tricky shoes on the shelves for today."

"Seriously? Ugh, so much carrying for nothing! I don't care, I'll cast a levitating spell and take it down the stairs! The boxes are too heavy!" She pulled out her wand and pointed it at the box.

I hurried to put my hand in front of the tip of her wand, lowering it until it faced the ground. "Wait, you're allowed to cast magic outside school?" I asked.

"Sure I am. I'm in a wizard-only area, I have adult supervision… all set," she assured me and tapping on the box called, "Wingardium Leviosa!" The box floated several inches from the floor, and following the direction of Roxanne's wand flew to the basement.

"Ummm… Roxanne? Can you bring it up here for a second? I want a pair."

She nodded and brought the box upstairs again, although she did it with a lot of force and it almost hit me in the head. "Oh, so sorry, Al!" She said and lowered it in front of me so that I could open it and get a pair.

"It's okay. No harm done." I rubbed my forehead, and picked a pair.

"So, what did you want the shoes for?" She asked. She definitely knew something was up. She was Fred's twin sister after all; she could smell trouble from miles away.

"Hmmm… Pulling a prank on James," I said guiltily.

She laughed. "That'd better be good! You gotta tell me everything about it if it works! I've never seen the shoes in action." A grin was plastered on her face as we ran to the main floor. "Dad's working on new colours of pigmy puffs."

I nodded. "I saw a green one upstairs."

"Yeah, for some reason, he can't make any blue ones. The last one he tried to turn blue became purple and a bit fluffier than it was before."

"That must be cool!" I said.

"Not for Dad. He really wants to make that pigmy blue, and it's setting him off." Poor Uncle George. He must have been tired. He rarely ever had problems making stuff. He just put something in his head and did it.

"I'm going to look around a bit," I announced, heading towards the shelves where all the Skiving Snackboxes were. That was one of my favourite parts of the shop. Uncle George made up new snacks every now, and then and sometimes I had volunteered to be his guinea pig when Mum wasn't around. I had tried his Swelling Chocobites, which looked like little chocolates but in fact they made several parts of your body swell unnaturally; if you just bit the white side (that looked like white chocolate) though all the swelling vanished. When I had tried them my nose had grown huge. Thankfully the only people at home were Uncle George, Teddy and me, so there was no yelling involved. I could even remember Teddy making his nose as huge as mine.

"If you promise not to use it to get away from class all the time you can have a package," Uncle Ronald said as he came from behind me and smirked.

"Thanks, Uncle Ronald!" I said and took a package.

He winked at me. "Just don't let your mother see that, or she'll know it was me."

"Oh, Dad wanted to talk to you," I said. "He's in Gringotts with Mum and Lily."

"What do you say about going to find them? And then you could finish your shopping with Rose. She's at Madam Malkin's with Hermione."

"Sounds great," I agreed.

We found Mum, Dad and Lily just the moment they were walking out of the bank. Dad was holding his wallet and I saw him slipping his vault key in his pocket. He waved at Uncle Ronald and they approached us.

"Had fun, Albus?" Mum asked, smoothing my hair.

I nodded and followed them. We stopped in Flourish and Blotts to get some new books, which I needed, and looked around in the literature section. I loved adventure novels, especially those series called "The Adventures of Silvio Tizzle" . The books were about a middle-aged wizard who decided one day that his life was too boring and started wandering around dangerous areas, like mountains where giants lived and other such places.

"Found any good books, buddy?" Teddy came out of the blue.

"Hmmm, I'm waiting for the sequel to come out, but it won't be until November, it says," I explained, looking at the big poster behind the desk where all the books of the series were piled onto.

"Then here's what we're gonna do," Teddy said, kneeling so that he was almost on eye-level with me. "As soon as it comes out, I will send it to you with Mouse." Mouse was Teddy's owl, which he had since he was really young, but I never understood why he'd name his owl "Mouse." Maybe it was because his feathers were mouse grey…

I smiled at Teddy. "Thanks, you're the best!"

"You should run downstairs, your mum wants you to go and get your potions ingredients, then go to Madam Malkin's for your robe and then they have a surprise for you."

"Wow, a surprise? What is it? Tell me! Tell me!" I asked impatiently.

"If you go downstairs, you'll soon find out," he said and his hair turned from black to a vivid green for a second, and as he shook his head again it turned back to black. I grinned and went to find my parents.

"There you are, Al! Come on, we have some more shopping to do!" Mum said, and placing a hand on my back, led me out of the store. I saw Dad was carrying a massive bag filled with books.

_Now that explains why Mum had to get James's books home first_, I thought.

My potions ingredient list wasn't very long and it wasn't much later that we had finished with it. We rushed to get my school uniform from Madam Malkin's next. Madam Malkin's assistant moved her wand as soon as she saw me walking in, and the clothes flew towards me, unfolding themselves and floating in front of me so that I could see if they were my size.

"Thanks," I said.

"No problem, dear, it's my job," the witch said as though she were in a hurry.

With a small move of her wrist and a light tap of her wand she made the clothes fold themselves again and fall in my arms. Mum followed the woman to the counter to pay. Dad tailed Lily, who pulled his sleeve, because she saw a deep purple cloak with a matching pointy hat, and wanted to show him. I was left standing there, with a small mountain of clothes in my arms.

A distinctive voice came from the back of the shop and just then I remembered that Aunt Hermione and Rose, my cousin, were supposed to be here as well. I followed Rose's excited voice, and found her standing on a short stool. I could make out Madam Malkin's short figure in front of Rose, shortening her cloak a little.

"Hey, Al!" Rose said, and waved at me excitedly.

"Hi, Rose! Hi, Aunt Hermione!" I greeted them. My aunt might have been the most Muggle-looking person in Diagon Alley at that moment. She was wearing a pair of faded jeans and an orange T-shirt with horizontal black stripes. Uncle Ron looked only semi-normal, in a plain pair of trousers, a thin green shirt and his out-of-place colourful shoes. At least he wasn't as bad as the older wizards though, who were making all kinds of weird clothes combinations, mixing typical Muggle clothing with cloaks in vibrant colours or pointy hats.

My aunt walked away to find Mum, and when Madam Malkin told Uncle Ronald in an annoyed tone to step away so she could finish, he kissed Rose's forehead and left us as well.

"I'm so excited!" Rose said. It was obvious how happy she was for the start of term; she was trying to keep herself from bouncing up and down. "We're finally going to Hogwarts!"

"Yes, we are," I agreed, smiling.

While Madam Malkin continued working on Rose's skirt, I told her about the Skiving Snackboxes and the tricky shoes I'd bought to pull a prank on James.

"I want to go buy a pigmy puff later today!" Said Rose.

"But why? I mean, you have Ignis, the kneazle? Plus let me remind you that it would happily _eat_ the pigmy puff if you let it."

Her face fell. "Oh, yes, you're right! But it's okay!" She was so happy that nothing could put her down for more than two seconds.

"There you go, young lady, it's all set. Go ahead and change. I think I saw your mother on the front." The old witch walked away, waving her wand here and there, fixing piles of clothes, that had become messy and moving a few pointy hats a little to the left.

"Kids, are you ready to go?" Our mums asked and we exited the store.

"What's left for you to buy?" Rose asked me, holding the bag with her new clothes.

"Um… Mum has the list," I said, unable to remember what we hadn't bought yet.

"Just a couple more things, and then we can find James and go to the Leaky Cauldron for lunch," answered Mum.

"Have you got your wand yet?" Asked Rose. "I got mine. Mum can I take it?" She didn't really wait for Aunt Hermione's answer; she just pulled it out of the paper bag. The box was about ten inches long, from hard, beige, cardboard paper. She opened it and revealed a wand made of light coloured wood. "It is beech wood on the outside, wood from orange tree in the inside. The core is made out of dragon heartstring. My Mum said it's pretty close to what her first wand was like."

I saw Aunt Hermione smile proudly and Rose put her wand back in the bag as we stopped in front of Olivander's Wand Shop. I'd been here once before, last year, when we came to buy a wand for James. Mr. Olivander was sitting on a chair in the back of the room, in front of a ginormic wooden construction filled with wand boxes. Part of it continued on the second storey and there was a wooden ladder that could be moved from side to side across the room so that someone could get the boxes from the highest shelves.

A man in his forties with grey-brown hair and a wrinkled, dusted, burgundy hat and a brown cloak showed up. He was Mr. Olivander's grandson who had been helping around the shop.

"Oh, the Potters," he said, smiling. He took a small, glass bowl with Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans towards us. "Bertie Beans?" He asked. I shook my head but Lily took a handful of the colourful candies. "So who needs a wand today?"

"That would be Al," said my Dad, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"Oh, great, great. Hmmm, wasn't it your brother that I sold the wand with core of Cornwall Pixie's hair?" Asked the man dressed in red.

I nodded.

"Ten point six inches long, made of pine wood. Great for defensive spells," Mr. Olivander said. Dad had told me that he had the eerie habit of remembering every wand he sold. "Don't forget names and wands, Mathew," he half-scolded his grandson.

Mathew gave us a nervous smile, obviously embarrassed by Mr. Olivander's remark, and said, "Maybe we should look if something similar fits you as well." He vanished in a narrow aisle filled with shelves with wands and soon a box landed on the counter in front of us. Mathew came back shortly after that.

I examined the box. On the side, it contained some information about the wand, like Muggle shoe boxes did.

_9'1''_

_Holy Wood_

_Cornwall Pixie Heartstring_

He gestured for me to open it and I took it in my hand. James never let me touch his wand. Once he told me he'd give it to me, and instead he gave me one of the Trick Wands Uncle George sold at his shop, which turned into a fuchsia ribbon the moment I tried to move it. I didn't like the feel of this wand in my hand; it was like something was wrong with the handle.

"Maybe we should try something else," Mr. Olivander said, and Mathew sighed.

I placed the wand back in its box and Mathew brought three more others for me to try. Rose came closer to take a look. If James were here I bet he'd have said something like, "We're going to spend the whole week trying to find a wand for Al! Even if there _is _the right one to find!"

The first two were complete failures; the moment I waved my arm things blew up. Mathew made a circular move with his wand and murmured, "Reparo," and the shards of the broken oil lamp fused back together.

Hesitantly I took the third wand. "Come on, wave it," Uncle Ronald said and laughed. "Worst case scenario the ceiling will land on top of us." Mum glared at her brother and he got serious. "It was a joke. I don't think any wand has ever brought the ceiling down because of a wave of a wand."

It didn't make me feel much better, but I waved the wand. To my surprise some of the beans lifted from the glass bowl and floated in the air for a few seconds but then fell down again.

"Ahh, that was better. I know the wand you need," Mr. Olivander said. He slowly stood up from his chair. He limped slightly as he made his way to the ladder and climbed all the way to the top. He pulled out a long box and came back to us. "Yew wood, Crup tail, eleven inches," he announced and opened the box placing the wand in my hand.

"They make wands out of Crup tails?" Uncle Ronald asked. Aunt Hermione worked in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures in the Ministry of Magic. She gave licenses to wizards who wanted to own magical pets such as Kneazles, Crups, Fwoopers and others. I had seen a Crup once, when I was little. It looked like a dog. Sort of like Mrs. Collins's, our neighbour's, terrier. Only it had a forked tail that wizards are supposed to remove for their safety.

"Yes. They aren't very popular yet, but they appear to be very effective, especially to transfigurations. A customer of mine asked me to make one for him and he said it was the best wand he had tried. I am very confident that this wand is the best for you, young man."

I bit the inside of my lip nervously, and was about to move my wand, when a warm sensation surged through my arm. Green and blue sparks flew from the tip of the wand. I realized I'd been holding my breath.

"Congratulations, Al, that's your new wand," said Dad. I looked up at him, smiling.

I carefully placed it back in its box, making sure I didn't accidentally break it. Dad pulled his wallet out, and paid Mr. Olivander and thanking him we left the shop. As we all walked out, I noticed that Dad didn't follow us; instead he was still inside, talking with Mr. Olivander, while Mathew was putting the boxes back in place.

After walking a bit around Diagon Alley we came to a stop in front of another shop. A big label over the door said, "Eeylops Owl Emporium." The shop was small, and when looking at it, I had the feeling that it had been practically squeezed between the two shops on its left and right, but somehow it stood out. In front of it were displayed various types of cages, square, round, big, small… and some were inhabited, as well, mostly by owls. On a bar extending from the front window five bats were hanging upside down and without a warning one of them twitched and let go of the bar. For a second I thought that it would fall on the ground, but it opened its wings and flew right into the shop.

"Cool," Rose said, and grinned ear to ear.

Just then I realized that this was the surprise Teddy was talking about. "Mum, are we going to buy an owl?" I asked excitedly. Mum smiled and stroked my head.

Lily tickled a grey owl under its beak and the owl tilted its head, closing its eyes and hooting in delight. "Look at that owl, Mum!" Lily said, pointing with her other hand at the owl she was tickling. To her surprise, the owl spotted the salamander tail in Lily's hand and with a shift move it took it and swallowed it.

I thought that Lily would start crying, but luckily for us she giggled and moved on to another owl with big, amber eyes.

I pulled Rose's hand and we got in the shop. It was dark and as small as it looked on the outside. Owls were here and there, some inside cages and others out. Most of them had their heads buried in their wings, sleeping. The bat that flew in was clinging on another bar with its legs hanging upside down, and trying to take a bite from an apple that was hanged from the bar as well. I turned my head on the right as much as I could, wondering what it was like to eat while hanging upside down. In my opinion, it would be plain uncomfortable.

"Hello, kids," a wizard in a green cloak said as he appeared from a door in the back of the shop. "May I help you?"

"I want to buy an owl," I said.

"Excellent!" said the wizard, clapping his hands together.

Dad walked into the shop and followed the wizard, like I did, while he showed us many owls, big and small, in all kinds of earthy colours, black and grey. There were some which seemed to have a tiny head. There were others whose head looked like a flat piece of parchment with eyes and a beak. We even saw a tiny one in a glass cage on the floor. It popped its head out of a small pot vase, which looked really funny. The wizard explained to us that this was an underground owl, and as the name suggests, it was a ground lover. It wasn't the kind of owl that travelled long distances. As soon as the wizard showed us all the owls he had, he withdrew behind his counter.

Dad walked towards a specific owl and put his finger in its cage. The owl nuzzled it at first, then bit it a bit, but Dad didn't pull it away. "I used to have an owl like this." I took a closer look at the bird. Its plumage was snow white and had little black dots here and there.

"Hedwig?" I asked.

He didn't talk a lot about his old owl, but he had never bought a new one. Of course we got one for James as well last year, but my brother was responsible for its care. Dad only looked after Fawkes whenever he showed up. He was a Phoenix, and trust me, his appearances never went without notice. He was a beautiful bird, with impressive red plumage. My dad said that it used to be Dumbledore's, and after his death they thought that Fawkes had flown away forever. But every now and then, he showed up, appearing out of thin air in the middle of the kitchen, or in front of the fireplace, and once even in Kreacher's room, which sent our house elf running down the stairs in a panic. When I was little, I had even seen Fawkes being wrapped in flames, and becoming a small chick again. That was the time he had stayed in our house the longest. As soon as he was big and strong enough to fly again he left for… who knew where.

Dad nodded. "Yes. She was a good owl, although she was really demanding. Especially in the summers, when the Dursleys didn't want me to take her out, she would get all grumpy and would bite me. But she never failed me."

"Hedwig you said?" The wizard asked, coming near us again. "Did you get the owl from here perhaps?"

"I believe so. It was a gift, but I think this is where Hagrid bought it from," said Dad.

"Ahhh, Hagrid! Yes, yes, he bought Hedwig… about thirty years ago. Nobody would buy her, because she was a tough bird. Bit a lot you see. After a while of being here, I thought I'd never sell her. So I gave her a name."

My Dad gave the man a questioning look. "But… I gave her the name after I found it in a book of History of Magic…"

"Really? What a coincidence. Did she respond to it?"

"Absolutely." Dad seemed thoughtful and opened the cage's door to stoke the bird as I looked around for one that I liked.

A light brown owl caught my eye. Its eyes were a dark brown, making the pupils barely visible and the plumage around them was lighter than the rest of its body. It wasn't a huge bird, but it wasn't like the tiny, underground owl either. When I came close, it lolled its head on the side and hooted; I took it as a permission to touch it. Its beak was almost completely covered in with feathers, and I could see only the beige tip of it.

"Dad, come and look at this one," I said.

A while later we walked out of Eeylops Owl Emporium with me holding the owl with its big cage in hand. We all went to Uncle George's shop to take James, where he probably was with Fred, and then we'd go to sit in the Leaky Cauldron for a bit before heading home.

Weasley's Wizard Wheezes was extremely crowded, at the point that we had technical difficulties in going walking through the front door. Rose and I walked over to the counter, where Verity was helping a customer, and I placed the cage with my owl on it. She seemed upset from the noise and the crowd, so I dug my hand in the paper bag filled with owl treats, and gave some to her to keep her busy. Uncle Ronald vanished in the second storey, in his office. For many years now, he'd been working with Uncle George, taking care of the financials.

"How come Hugo did not come along?" I asked Rose.

"He preferred to sit and play Quidditch with Luis and some friends of his."

Just then Roxanne showed up, smiling at us. "Hi, Rosie. Al. Did you two finish with your school supplies?"

"Yes, just now. Look at my owl!" I said. The owl didn't seem to pay much attention to us. She was still picking on the treats in my hand.

"Awww, that's a pretty owl. Got a name yet?"

"No," I said, shaking my head. "Are James and Fred here?"

Roxanne seemed about to shake her head but she didn't quite make it, because I felt a hand falling heavily on my back.

"Hey, cuz!" Fred said, grinning. "Missed us, didn't you?"

I frowned. "Yes, sure, it went all quiet without you two around."

"Where were you this time? Hopefully not throwing stink pellets at anybody?" Rose said, imitating her mother's tone. I couldn't really say that she shared Aunt Hermione's respect to rules though. She got more of the daring Weasley gene on that aspect.

Fred widened his eyes, giving us a cunning grin. "We? Of course not, we were just being nice and quiet as usually. You know us. Never cause trouble. Do we, James?"

I turned to look at James. He was oddly silent and thoughtful… Hmmm… Why was that? Pulled some prank at some wizard who chased them down? Or could this face be because Dad hadn't let him buy that shrunken skull? I definitely didn't want having that around the house.

"Huh?" he asked, looking as if he just fell down from his broomstick and back to our world. "Yeah, yeah…" He nodded and I was sure he had no idea what we were talking about.

What was up with him? James and _silence _don't go together. No way.

I nudged him. "What are you thinking?"

He looked at me and was really serious. I didn't know if that was supposed to be good or not. "Nothing, just a bit tired. Fred, did your dad bring any new stuff? Let's go take a look!" And with that they vanished in the crowded shop.

I felt Ignis gnawing my shoes and looked down at him. Rose had been trying to lure him with a small toy with jingles and bells and feathers, the kind of stuff that cats like. He seemed obviously way more interested in my oh-so-fascinating shoes.

"Look at the sea over there, Al!" Rose said, giving up on trying to get Ignis's attention, and pointing out of the window.

We were on some kind of bridge with rails for the train, crossing the sea… or a lagoon. I didn't really know which one it was, but it really looked beautiful. The sun was at its peak and the sky was clear blue. A long line of sunlight made the little waves on the water glow. For a second I thought I saw some human-like creature.

_It might be a merman_, I thought, but it was gone so quickly that I couldn't know for sure. It could have been just a figment of my imagination. I didn't know much about merpeople other than the fact that they didn't let anyone see them most of the time, and I knew that just from Dad. He wouldn't speak much about the war, but he used to tell us all sorts of other stories of his time at Hogwarts, like when he had taken part to the Triwizard Tournament.

The lady with the food trolley woke me up from my thoughts. She opened the door and smiled sweetly at us. "Do you kids want anything?"

Rose and I exchanged a smile. "Sure!"

I got some Chocolate Frogs and Rose got a package of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. As soon as the lady pulled her cart to the next compartment, and the door slipped back in place, I opened one of the Chocolate Frogs. Before I had a chance to react though, my frog hopped out of the package and onto the seat, which flamed Ignis's curiosity. He jumped around, trying to get it, until the poor chocolate treat was trapped under his paws.


	3. Chapter 1  James's POV

Chapter One ~ James POV

"I'm sorry Albus, you're just doomed to be in Slytherin. You have all of the characteristics of someone I knew who ended up in there." I said solemnly to my younger brother as we walked across the crowded train station. I had been teasing his about what house he was going to be in ever since he had gotten his acceptance letter to Hogwarts. It had yet to get boring, because his reaction changed each time. I almost grinned at his expression, but I composed myself.

"I _won't_! I _won't_ be in Slytherin!" he cried in dismay as he looked up at me as though I had completely betrayed him.

"James, give it a rest," my mum chided. She was tired of me bringing up the fact that Albus was doomed to be in Slytherin whether he liked it or not.

I grinned widely at Albus, "I only said he might be. There's nothing wrong with that. He might be in Slyth–" Just then I looked up at my mum and immediately stopped what I had been saying. She had one of those looks that she only got when she was very irritated. I turned and looked ahead and saw the barrier between platforms nine and ten. I was surprised that the brick actually looked as new as it did. I could only imagine how many students had crashed into the wall when they had tried to get onto the platform. I quickly took the trolley from my mum and sprinted away. After only a second I was enveloped by the wall, and was on Platform nine and three-quarters.

It felt good to feel the familiar steam and mist as I walked onto the platform. I pushed my luggage along the busy path and took my trolley to the train conductor who was putting everything into the train with levitation charms. I began to wander around to see if I could see anyone from last year. It seemed as though most of the people were older, and I didn't know any of them except those who were in Gryffindor. The air was thick with steam from the train, but I was able to make my way around well enough. I turned a corner and stopped abruptly as I saw to familiar people . . . Teddy and Victoire . . . snogging! I watched them for a few moments. I was completely shocked. Teddy was practically family. He was closer than some of the family, and I knew that. And Victoire was family! What in the world were they thinking? What they were doing was completely wrong! Family didn't snog family! At least not like that. Family typically pecked each other on the cheek or hugged. But this was full out leg-hitch snogging. I was utterly repulsed. I almost walked away right then and there, but I needed to let them know that what they were doing was what was going to make the family hate each other.

I walked over to Teddy and tapped him on the shoulder, "What are you doing? You do realize that what you are doing is completely wrong don't you? It's this kind of thing that makes families like ours stab each other in the back when no one is looking! Or jinx! You may just start a blood feud for all you know! But all you care about is the fact that you are lip-locking each other and transmitting Muggle diseases."

He looked more surprised than I had been, for reasons that I couldn't fathom. "What are you talking about James? I don't think you even know what you are saying. Haven't you ever seen your parents snog each other? It isn't just Muggles that do this kind of thing. And what blood feud? I thought our family was as close-knit as any wizarding family. Especially our parents. And I'm not technically a part of your family. Not by genetics anyway. So I am allowed to snog Victoire all I want, thank you very much! All I am doing is seeing Victoire off. I'm not going to see her for a while. Now get out of here!" I really didn't want to get on the wrong side of Teddy. He could have quite a nasty temper when he really wanted to. So I turned and walked away.

I began looking for my family in earnest. I wanted to tell them what I had found out. I ran through the crowd, occasionally pushing someone when they didn't move out of my way. After a few minutes I found them. All of them. Standing around . . . doing nothing.

"Teddy's back there. Just seen him! And guess what he's doing? _Snogging_ Victoire!" I said breathlessly. I looked up at the adults, glancing from face to face. None of them seemed remotely phased by the news. I decided I needed to emphasize, "_Our_ Teddy! _Teddy Lupin_! Snogging _our_ Victoire! Our cousin! And I asked Teddy what he was doing–"

"You interrupted them? You are so like Ron–" my mum cut me off.

"–and he said he'd come to see her off! And then he told me to go away. He's _snogging_ her!"

"Oh, it would be lovely if they got married! Teddy would really be part of the family then!" my sister whispered excitedly. She was like every other girl, so concerned about weddings and parties. It was beyond me how someone could actually like any of that stuff. It all involved girlish stuff.

"He already comes round for dinner about four times a week," my dad pointed out, "Why don't we just invite him to live with us and have done with it?"

I liked this idea. "Yeah! I don't mind sharing with Al–Teddy could have my room!" I began to plan everything out in my head. This was going to be really great.

My dad shook his head, "No, you and Al will share a room only when I want the house demolished." He looked down at his watch, "It's nearly eleven, you'd better get on board." I was about to disagree with that, but with the stern look that dad gave me, I decided against it.

Mum walked over and hugged me, "Don't forget to give Neville our love!"

"Mum! I can't give a professor _love_!" I retorted. Parents didn't realize that students don't hug professors. Just because they may have been on a first name basis with many of the teachers, didn't mean that that was how it was nowadays. I was determined to eventually get both of my parents to realize this.

"But you know Neville–"

I once again rolled my eyes at her, "Outside, yeah, but at school he's Professor Longbottom, isn't he? I can't walk into Herbology and give him _love_ . . . " I shook my head at her.

"See you later, Al. Watch out for the thestrals." I smiled at Albus as I swung my leg out to kick him. My shoe successfully made contact with his shin. He didn't seem to notice this fact. He was too busy staring at me as though I had just spoken Parseltongue. Which was entirely possible. At times I had to make sure I spoke in English and not snake. Because, unfortunately, snakes didn't teach Defense Against the Dark Arts. I shuddered at the memory that the mere thought of snakes not teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts brought up. My mind quickly traveled back to last year. My first day of Defense Against the Dark Arts. The incident that had made me known throughout the school as "snake boy."

I walked into Defense Against the Dark Arts class with my book bag that was completely full of various books that I needed for classes before, after, and during this class. I sat down in one of the desks that was near the back. In my opinion, it was better to stay near the back, that way you didn't become the teacher's pet and aren't forced to be their guinea pigs.

Professor Cemola walked into the room as soon as I had sat down and she promptly walked up to the front of the room. Without a preamble, she began to call out our names. I was near the very bottom, so it had seemed to take forever to get to my name, but she soon said "Potter, James." Before I had even had the chance to let her know where I was and introduce myself (like all the other students had been doing) she walked up the aisle until she was towering over me. "Are you related to Harry Potter?" she demanded. I got this question daily it seemed. Either my closely related appearance to him triggered the question, or my last name.

I sighed and looked up at her, I was irritated, but didn't show it because didn't want to get on the wrong side of her, "Yes, I am related to Harry Potter. He is my dad."

She looked absolutely shocked. I was about to say "you asked," but I looked around and saw that the entire class was looking at me. I knew then that I had spoken Parseltongue. I had found out that I spoke it roughly six months before I had received my letter telling me that I had been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. My parents had been petrified when I had spoken the language that was all too familiar to them, but they gradually learned to accept it. Eventually my dad seemed to even like it when we were able to talk back and forth without anyone (except any snakes in the vicinity) knowing what we were saying. And as far as anyone knew, I was the only child of my parents that was able to speak it.

I was able to quickly snap out of my "flashback" of sorts. It had only taken me a few seconds to quickly replay the events in my mind. I looked at Albus and saw a look of pure terror on his face, "I thought they were invisible? You said they were invisible!"

I smiled mischievously at him before jogging toward the nearest doors to the Hogwarts Express and boarding the train. My cousin, Fred, was waiting for me a few paces ahead. He had obviously overheard what I had just said to Albus, because he was grinning ear to ear. "Couldn't have done it better myself," he said in approval as he grabbed my hand and pulled me into a bear hug, "You're getting better and better everyday James."

"What's that supposed to mean? That I'm still learning?" I scoffed as I pulled away from his embrace and looked at him. He just shook his head before walking into one of the compartments that he had clearly saved for the two of us. He then held up various contraband that he had snuck onto the train using various methods. The items ranged from Fanged Fliers, Headless Hats and Punching Telescopes to Portable Swamps, Dungbombs, and Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder. It was going to be a good year.

I took one of the Headless Hats from him and sat down on one of the seats in the compartment. Fred began searching through a black bag. It was obvious that he was looking for something, but I had no idea what it was. Suddenly he pulled out some Stink Pellets. He held them up as if he had just won the Triwizard Tournament. I couldn't help but smile at him.

A loud noise made us both jump out of our seats. I looked at the floor, where the sound had come from and couldn't believe what I saw. "You told your mum and mine that you weren't, under any circumstances, going to sneak one of these onto the train, let alone the school!" I burst out as I saw the circular tube that was clearly labeled "Dr. Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start, No-Heat Fireworks."

"You really need to learn to lighten up about a lot of things James," he shook his head at me, "Did everything that I ever taught you sink into that small skull of yours?"

He grinned jokingly, and I relaxed. "I suppose you're right. And these fireworks will let us have all the more pranks to irritate the professors, Mr. Crubs and Mr. Filch."

"Exactly!"

I leaned back against the seat and thought back to when we went shopping in Diagon Alley for our school supplies . . .

I reached into the pot that had the Floo Powder in it and took out a handful. Of course I got to be the guinea pig even though everyone else had traveled by Floo Powder before. I stepped into the fireplace and looked out at my family. I took a deep breath and realized that doing so was a mistake. As I inhaled a lungful of soot, I stifled a cough. I cleared my lungs the best that I could before saying "The Leaky Cauldron," loud and without a flaw. I had been taught about the things that could go wrong if a wizard pronounced even one syllable wrong. I had the sudden sensation that I was being sucked into a vacuum, but that was quickly relieved as I noticed that I was inside the fireplace at the Leaky Cauldron.

I quickly stepped out of the fireplace so that those following me could get out without me being in the way. I leaned against a nearby wall and looked at all of the people who were here. This was one of my favorite things about coming to Diagon Alley (and the Leaky Cauldron). As long as no one caught you staring at them, you could watch people and see amazing things. Even after living in a wizarding world all of my life, I was still stunned by the numerous things that I continued to see each time. The best part was that every time I came, there was always something new to examine.

In one corner of the room, there was a figure in a hooded cloak. A mug of an untouched drink that looked oddly like blood was on the table in front of them. I shuddered, wondering if that was a vampire or something of that type. I quickly averted my gaze, not wanting the creature to catch me staring at it.

The thing that I looked at next was a hag. I knew because last year when I had come here she had been here, and had come up to me. My dad rushed me away, but not before she had pressed some sort of necklace into my hand. Luckily, my dad hadn't noticed (he had been too intent on getting me away). As soon as we were a "safe" distance away, he had explained to me that she was a hag and then he had promptly explained to me what hags were and why I should never associate with one of them. Which was why it had shocked me when he suggested that I go first with the Floo Powder. I had been sure that he would have gone first and made sure that there were no hags, demons, or–I shuddered–vampires. Which made me glance over at the man in the corner. He was looking at me! My eyes dropped down to gaze intently at the stone floor (as if that was anything to stare at). Just then Albus and my dad walked out of the fireplace. I hadn't realized that I had been holding my breath until I let it all out in a gust when my dad and younger brother walked over to where I was. Albus looked completely sour. I realized that he hadn't gotten to travel here by himself, and obviously the reason there had been a delay was because there had been an argument between my dad and Albus. That was clear enough when I looked at my dad and saw that he was still slightly angry.

Soon afterwards, Lily and my mum stepped out of the fireplace. They dusted themselves off (as only women really do) and walked over to where we were. Dad immediately walked forward over to where the entrance was to Diagon Alley, but not before one of his former classmates (her name escaped me) waved at him. He waved back and pressed forward. After tapping a few bricks in a specific order, the pathway to get into Diagon Alley was made known and we walked through. I immediately started walking faster, I wanted to go find my cousin Fred who was only a year older than me. I felt a hand on my upper arm and realized that my dad had stopped me from going anywhere.

"You need to get your school supplies first," he frowned.

I rolled my eyes in reply and got a sharp, disapproving glance from my mum. I slowed my pace down and went around with my family to get my school supplies. We went to Flourish and Blotts first. There we bought "The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 2) by Miranda Goshawk," "Defense Against the Dark-Arts: A Beginners Guide by Manfred Lloyd," "Basic Potions: Volume two by Severus Snape" and numerous other books that were supposedly going to improve my education and learning experience. I doubted that very much.

We then went to Amanuensis Quills and got standard, boring quills. I wanted some ink that changed color, but my dad said that it was a waste of galleons. After that, we went to Scribbulus Writing Instruments. Parchment was all that we got there. Amanuensis Quills had been out of parchment, but Scribbulus Writing Instruments had been right next door. Slug & Jiggers Apothecary was our next stop. We picked up various potion ingredients, all of the ones I got were dull things that were needed for the class. But in the shop there had been things floating in jars that looked like brains and other things like that. I had tried to convince my dad to get my a shrunken head. I wasn't sure why it was at the Apothecary, and when I couldn't give him a good reason why I needed it, he said no.

Along the way we had also gotten a few things for Albus, but I knew that we hadn't gotten much because my dad didn't want me ruining "Albus's Big Day." I had a tendency to do that, so it seemed that my parents were trying to find ways to get me out of the way when it was Albus's turn in the spotlight. Albus had been begging my dad to let him go look at various stores, and after we went to the Apothecary, my parents needed to go to Gringotts Wizarding Bank replenish their supply of money, so they let him go to one of the stores that was near the bank.

As soon as my parents were out of sight with Lily, I began to wander around in search of Fred. After only five minutes of searching, I found him. He had also been looking for me. After a short conversation, Fred said that he had something to show me and to follow him. Unfortunately, Fred had longer legs than I did. And by the time I realized where his winding path was taking us, it was too late. We were in Knockturn Alley.

I looked around as we walked farther and farther into the "alley." It was eerie in and of itself, without the numerous hags and other demented wizards. The brick on either side of us was covered in thick slime and ivy-like plants that looked like mold. I shuddered, this was not at all what I had pictured Knockturn Alley as looking like. Fred looked around in amazement, as if he had just found lost treasure. I wasn't sure why the overall look and smell of the area didn't make his face twist into inhumanly shapes. Maybe he was too caught up in the moment. All he could see were opportunities for pranks. And I was the same way, in most respects. But my parents were both extremely level-headed and mature. Fred had his dad (my uncle) George, who ran a joke shop and pulled pranks whenever there was an opportunity. All Fred seemed to think about was jokes and pranks. Which wasn't a bad thing, but at times he seemed to completely obsess over them.

We continued to explore the area. There were Muggle versions of flea markets lining the streets, and old hags and deranged wizards continually tried to shove their products in our faces. The only thing that I was even tempted to buy was a shrinking head, but I couldn't think of any way to get it home without dad finding out about it. Another thing that deterred me was the fact that the shrunken head that had been at the Apothecary had been somewhat cool. The shrunken heads that they were selling all along the streets of Knockturn Alley were grotesque with faces twisted in various poses of pure agony. I wasn't entirely sure that I wanted to carry something like that around with me, or have it hanging somewhere in my room. Some of the heads even had enchantments on them that caused them to talk. Some were just general "hellos," "how are yous?" and "good days." But others said vile things that should never be repeated.

After about fifteen minutes of enjoying walking around, Fred realized that he was completely lost. And I realized that Fred had never been here before and what a stupid idea it was to follow him in the first place. "You know that Muggle fairytale? It's called Huntley and Griddle or something like that."

I nodded, I knew that one.

"Well, I think we should have left breadcrumbs or something. Because I have no idea where I am," he admitted.

If I wasn't completely overcome with a sense of fear, I probably would have laughed. Fred had tried to break the news that we were lost gently to me, but I had most likely known that we were lost way before he had. As soon as the fear really set into both of our systems, it seemed as if the various oddballs that crowded the streets were closing in on us.

I gulped. My first impulse was to run, and run as fast as I could away from anyone and everyone. Instead, I turned and looked at Fred, "Is it just me, or are all the hags and various wizards closing in on us?" I just needed to make sure that it wasn't just my imagination before I completely lost all grips with reality.

He nodded, his complexion was pale white, as though he had just seen the Bloody Baron. "I...I think you're right James. They're closing in on us."

I took a deep breath and remembered one of the stories that I had heard about my namesake. In that particular story, he hadn't turned tail and ran when the going got tough. And my dad was the same way. I looked up to both of those people, even though one of them I had never–and would never–meet. "Um . . . " I cleared my throat so that I could actually speak, "Please move out of the way. My cousin and I need to get through." After I said this, I began to push through the ranks of witches and wizards. They pushed right back, and before long, I found myself back where I had started. None of them spoke, they didn't need to, their demeanor said it all. "Hey!" I yelled, "I need to get through! Make way!" I again pushed forward, the seas of witches and wizards seemed to part, and I was able to get farther than I had the first time. I could feel Fred right on my heels.

Finally I got through the sea of misfits. I took a deep breath and continued to walk in a direction that seemed more or less right. After about five minutes of complete silence, I turned a corner and ran into someone. "Excuse me! I'm trying to get somewhere!" I said in an extremely assertive tone.

I didn't bother looking at whom I had ran into, but I froze as he began to speak in Parseltongue, "Start at the abandoned pond. First left, then right. Straight for a time, then right once more. Five paces back the way you came, then sit down. I will find you upon the stroke of midnight. The night before they assemble . . . Remember that it will be a full moon. Watch for wolves of unusual size." I looked up slowly. I had carelessly run into an old man. He seemed to be repeating directions to himself, because he didn't pay any attention to the fact that I had nearly plowed him over.

I jumped backward as I felt something winding its way around my legs. I looked down and saw a huge snake slithering about on the cobblestones. A sudden thought popped into my head. Perhaps the snake had directions on how to get out of Knockturn Alley. I knelt down, still staying a distance from the menacing snake. It seemed to sit up and balance itself until it was eye level with me. By the time it had done this, it was closer than it had been when it was completely on the ground. I took a deep breath, trying to block out the sudden thought that my imagination had made up. The snake striking . . .

I never took my eyes off the snake, even when Fred kicked me in the back as hard as he could. He had, apparently, been talking to me, but I had been too preoccupied with the snake. "James! What in the world are you thinking? Stand up right now and get away from that snake . . . and that man! He's hissing!" Fred was in a complete panic. I realized that he didn't know that I spoke Parseltongue. From what he was saying, I doubted he even knew what Parseltongue was. At any rate, I completely ignored him, even though I knew the kick he had given me was going to leave a bruise.

Before Fred could say or do anything else that would alter my physical appearance, I spoke to the snake using its native tongue, "Excuse me, could you tell me how to get out of Knockturn Alley?"

A voice replied in Parseltongue, but it was obviously not the snake answering my question. "There's no point in asking him. He doesn't know his left from his right. He's blind, you see. It wouldn't really matter that he has been denied the right to see. All snakes have horrendous orientation skills." I leaped to my feet and stared at the old man. He was looking at me, it was obvious that he had been the one who has addressed me. I wondered when he had noticed me.

I heard Fred make a sound as if he was in excruciating pain. But I knew that it was just because he had heard me speaking Parseltongue and most likely thought I had been taken over by some demon or something along those lines.

"Then may I ask you how to get out of Knockturn?" I asked politely, still using the native tongue of snakes.

"You may, but I have the option of not answering you if I so choose." He smiled a toothless grin at me as he said this. I frowned, not sure how to answer that.

I decided to attempt a sly retort, "If I ask, will I waste my breath?"

"That depends on what you want to hear," he replied.

I sighed. This was going to be much harder than I first anticipated. So far we had both only uttered the language of the reptile at our feet, so Fred had no idea what we were saying, but I was expecting him to bolt at any given time. He was a daredevil, but from the sound he had made a few moments earlier, I knew that he was losing his nerve. I needed to quickly get to the point, before Fred either ran from us both, or fainted. Both of which were entirely possible.

"Your friend is going to leave our presence very soon," the old man said, speaking my fears out loud. Even though I couldn't see Fred because my back was to him, I believed the old man one-hundred percent.

"Sir?" I decided politeness was the way to win the answer to my question, "What is your name?"

"My Christened name, is for my ears alone, but I am called by those close to me Milton. Timothy Milton."

His demeanor was quickly making me lose my nerve as well, but I was able to keep my composure though sheer will. "Mister Milton. I need to know how to leave Knockturn Alley."

"I will teach you the way out, if you swear to me on all that you hold dear two things."

"Anything!" I said, a little bit too enthusiastically, even I was able to hear the sharp hiss in my voice that time. I heard Fred take a step back.

"Firstly, do not tell anyone about this meeting. It is for you and I alone to know of. Secondly, when you return to school this year, you will meet a boy who goes by the same name that I do. He also speaks our language," it was obvious that by 'our language' he meant the language of the snakes, or Parseltongue, "at this time, I shan't tell you how Timothy and I know each other, or why we have the same name, but there will come a time when he needs your help. You must help him, as payment for what I am about to do for you. If you do not help him, I will kill you. Do not underestimate me, James Sirius Potter." He spat the last name 'Potter'. Suddenly, he rose to his full height and towered above me. I realized then that he had been stooping before. I took a slight step backward in surprise. The cloak that he had been wearing to shade all but his mouth in the shadows suddenly fell away and I cried out in surprise. His expression was of utter loathing.

I took a deep breath, I needed to keep myself calm if only for Fred's sake. "You have my word."

"Would you be willing to do an Unbreakable Vow?" he snarled the question.

"Pardon me?"

"An Unbreakable Vow! It is a magical incantation in which one wizard makes an oath to another. In other words, you making an oath to me. If you accept the conditions of the Unbreakable Vow and you break them, you shall die. I have yet to know someone who has broken this vow, so I am unable to tell you how you will die. I only know from rumor that it is excruciatingly painful. We would join hands, and a third person, designated as the "Bonder," shall place the tip of his wand onto their hands, upon which one person asks another person three separated terms of the Vow, where the person will respond "I will." I cannot even begin to fathom the fact that you have never heard of this," he said impatiently.

"I hadn't until now, sir," I gulped, "But . . . couldn't you just . . . take my word for it? I don't want to die."

"Of course not. Especially not now that you have proven that you are considering the possibility of breaking the vow. But, then again, the only way that you and your friend will get out of Knockturn Alley is if you comply." As he said this, my thoughts automatically went to my family . . . Fred's family. I couldn't imagine how distraught my uncle George would be if he lost another Fred. And my parents. I realized at that moment, that both Fred and my own namesakes had died at young ages. We were the living memories of both Fred Weasley, uncle George's twin brother, and James Potter, my dad's own dad. I couldn't imagine how my dad would feel losing that connection to the past that he didn't even remember. There was also the fact that I was his son. I couldn't do that to him–I wouldn't do that to him. I couldn't even imagine my mum's reaction. I closed my eyes as a lone tear trickled down my cheek. Albus, Lily, and my numerous cousins and other relations. It seemed as though their very happiness depended on my answer, and in a harsh reality, it did. "So. What is your answer?"

"I'll do it." I replied, my voice shaky.

"Excellent!" he turned to look at Fred, who was a lot farther back than I remembered him being. "Friend of James Potter, do you know how to perform an Unbreakable Vow?" until Mister Milton spoke in English, I hadn't realized that the whole conversation had been in Parseltongue.

Fred shook his head and took a step back, "Nagini, bring me my prey." Milton said in Parseltongue. I gasped as I realized that the name of his snake was the same as the infamous Lord Voldemort, sometimes known as Tom Riddle. My father had explained the entire story to me over the summer after I had prodded him with questions because of the fact that I continually kept getting asked "Are you related to Harry Potter?". He had told me the story in Parseltongue, so that no one would overhear us. We had been in the garden because my dad had known that his wife would know what we were talking about due to his somber demeanor and my expressions. It surprised me that Milton had the nerve to name his snake something so awful. But looking at his face, I realized that it was completely reasonable for his snake to be called what it was.

I watched as Nagini wound herself around the legs of my cousin. "She won't hurt you unless she has to," Milton said calmly.

"You . . . you speak snake!" Fred said, looking at Milton and then wheeling on me, "You speak snake as well!"

I nodded at Fred and started responding to him in Parseltongue before correcting myself, "Fred, Mister Milton is going to show us how to get out of here. But you have to come over here and help us with something. I've made a promise to him that I will assist his . . . friend while at Hogwarts this year, but he wants me to make an Unbreakable Vow so that he knows I will keep it. If I don't, he'll kill us. Or his snake will." At this, Fred ran forward, toward us, stumbling as Nagini tried to free herself as he ran.

He stopped short right next to me. "Now, boy, you need to know the basics for being the "Bonder" for an Unbreakable Vow. All you need is your wand." Fred drew his wand, I was surprised that he had it with him. "Very good. Now, James, grab ahold of my hand." He nodded his approval as I did so. "Remember, all you must do is say 'I will' after each condition." Milton looked at Fred, "Place the tip of your wand on our interlinked hands." After Fred did this he added, "No matter what happens at this point, do not pull your wand away, otherwise both of you will die." Fred looked extremely pale as he nodded.

Milton took a deep breath and stared me down. If it wasn't for my family, I would have told him to kill me. I had half a mind to do so, and most likely would have, except I couldn't be responsible for Fred's death. Even if he had gotten us into this mess.

"James Sirius Potter," as he said my name, I wondered to myself how he knew it. When he had said it before, I hadn't noticed that I had never supplied him with my name, as he had done for me. I felt a shudder go down my spine as I realized this, "do you promise that no matter what, you will do as I have asked, and assist my acquaintance in what he must do at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?"

He asked this condition in Parseltongue, and I gave the reply in the same language. "Yes–I mean, I will."

A rope–like flame emerged from the tip of Fred's wand and wrapped itself tightly around our hands. If it would have been possible, I would have pulled away right then and there. I saw Fred jump out of the corner of my eye.

"And, if you must, will you protect him from any danger he may or may not encounter while doing this?"

I took a deep breath, "I . . . I will."

Another tongue of flame came out of the wand and wrapped itself around the first.

"And, will you be sure to not tell anyone about what we have spoken of?"

"I will . . ." I almost added not, but realized that even with this 'oath' it would be wrong because of the way he phrased it. All of this Unbreakable Vow had been spoken in Parseltongue. Just has quickly as the last flame wrapped itself around our hands, they turned into smoke and disappeared in the air. Fred pulled his wand away.

Milton continued to look at me, even as he released my hand, "Do you have your wand so that you can perform the same act on your friend and I?" I wondered to myself why Milton didn't know Fred's name. Maybe he did, but his name wasn't essential to what was happening here.

I shook my head, I didn't carry my wand with me everywhere. It was in my trunk at home.

"I suppose I will have to do this the old fashioned way." Milton sighed as though he were bored, "Obliviate!" he said, pointing his wand at Fred. Fred looked surprised at first, but then a look of confusion crossed his face. I looked alarmed, but the old wizard reassured me, "I only erased his memory up to the moment before you ran into me. Do not forget your vow. Keep walking forward, you are going the right direction. Do not get off the path. In about a minute you will return to Diagon Alley" he said before he disapparated.

I rushed forward with Fred on my tail, acting as though he had been running from the hags and witches the entire time. Which, in his mind, he had been. After less than a minute, we emerged from Knockturn Alley. The brightness of the sun assaulted my vision, and I realized how dark it had been in Knockturn Alley. Without hesitation, Fred immediately turned to grin at me. "See? I told you that I knew where we were going!"

I nodded. I wasn't in the mood to argue with him. And even if I had been, I most likely wouldn't have been able to speak. As we began to venture back into Diagon Alley, a feeling of dread began to come over me. While we had been in the heart of Knockturn, it had been Milton and I. The conversation that we had with one another was strictly confidential, and only now did the realization of what had just happened strike me. I felt a wave of emotions hit me all at once, and I staggered backward in surprise.

I saw Fred look over at me, "Are you okay James?"

I shook off his concern, "Yeah, I'm fine, just . . . dizzy after all that running I suppose."

"Yeah, those hags were a sight to see," he agreed, grinning.

"That's for sure . . . ." I nodded before I took the lead and began walking forward. Even though my head was spinning, I seemed to be able to keep my balance as we kept a constant, quick pace on the cobblestone streets. Looking down at the ground, it seemed that the cobblestones in Diagon Alley were the same size and shape as the cracked, slime covered ones in Knockturn Alley. The ones that I had seen Nagini slither across in a menacing fashion. The same cobblestone that Milton had stood on as he watched me with his loathe-filled expression. I blinked my eyes hard so that the face of Milton and Nagini was no longer clouding my vision. I looked away from the cobblestone, and kept my sight on the many shops that we passed as we walked through the crowded streets of Diagon. I decided that I would look at all of the minute detail of each shop in order to keep my mind off of Knockturn.

We passed the Daily Prophet Office. It was a rather small, shabby looking place. When I had first seen it, and known what it is, I had been beyond shocked. I thought that the Ministry would have a shop that was much bigger than that to produce so many newspapers for the Wizarding community. It was, after all, the most popular way that wizards got news of what was happening in their own, as well as other Wizarding societies; aside from gossip of course. The sign that read "Daily Prophet Office" was old and only attached to the building from one side. The other side was hanging off the edge and blocking a small portion of the doorway. The lettering of the sign actually read "D..ly Pro...t Off..." but it was easy enough to see what was going on inside the windows, many wizards running around, writing with quills and printing the next edition of the paper. I wondered to myself if they were really too busy to use a simple charm such as "Reparo" to fix the sign outside the office.

The next shop we passed was Eeylops Owl Emporium. I could see owls roaming in and out of the shop. I could name each and every kind as they swooped to and fro. A Tawny owl passed, its great wings flapping quickly as it slowed and came to a stop on the roof of the shop. I noticed that it had a mouse clenched in its beak. I knew that all Tawny owls were stocky. They reminded me of goblins in a way, especially the way they hunched their shoulders. All of the goblins who worked at Gringotts were stooped, so I had made that connection. This owl was a beautiful golden brown. It had streaks of white feathers that appeared here and there, and had a more orange tint to the feathers around its eyes. It gazed at me as I stared it wonder at it.

Next, I saw a Screech owl. I knew that this Screech was a female, because she was larger and fatter than the males that flew right beneath her, as though he was protecting her from the other owls. Both of them were compact in size, shape, and height. The two birds weaved between the other owls, and I remembered that my dad had told me that screech owls were very agile and small, so that they could get practically anywhere. All of the Screeches that I had ever seen were colored in various brownish hues with usually a whitish, patterned underside, which I had read, helps to camouflage them against the bark of trees. Some are polymorphic and this is what these two Screeches were. The female was a grayish-morph, and the male was a gorgeous reddish-brown morph.

I pried my eyes away from the two Screech owls, hoping to see more kinds of owls. Suddenly I saw a magnificent Barn owl. This owl was pale, long-winged, long-legged owl with a short square-ish tail. From what I could see of it, it seemed to it measure about 25–45 cm in overall length, with a wingspan of some 75–110 cm. The way I was able to distinguish this owl from the others was its tail shape, as well as the wavering motions and the open dangling feathered legs. The owl came and landed on a witch's huge hat. The light face with its heart shape and the black eyes gave this owl an odd and startling appearance, like a flat mask with oversized oblique black eye slits, the ridge of feathers above the bill somewhat resembling a nose. Its head and upperparts were a mixture of buff and grey–especially on the forehead and back–feathers. This owl was purer fine black-and-white speckles, more vibrant than any I had ever seen. The heart-shaped face was bright white, with a small tint of brown. The under parts varied from white to reddish buff. The talons of it were black.

I gasped as I saw a Snowy owl flap its wings as it flew out of the low doorway that was propped open. I was yellow eyed with a large black bill. I knew that this bird was a male, because there wasn't a hint of black anywhere on his glorious body. It made a "krek-krek" sound as it quickly flew over the shops of Diagon Alley.

After about two minutes of standing there, watching the birds, I began to walk again. I could hear Fred behind me. Obviously he had decided to allow me to watch the birds. Perhaps I seemed near the breaking point to him. I knew that I was past the breaking point myself, and was all too eager to find my way back to my home at Number 12, Grimmauld Place. Usually my favorite place to go was Diagon Alley, but now all I wanted to do was get away. I wondered to myself if I would ever actually like Diagon Alley ever again. The prospect seemed bleak.

Gambol and Japes was the store that we passed next. It was quite large compared to the small, cramped stores surrounding it on either side. I had never personally been inside this particular joke shop, since I preferred Weasley's Wizard Wheezes especially since everything and anything in that store was virtually free for me, thanks to my uncle George, Fred's dad. But Fred had been in there once, and said it was the only place in Diagon Alley that actually sold authentic "Dr Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start, No-Heat Fireworks." Fred was extremely excited to somehow sneak the fireworks to Hogwarts. I was curious as to how he was going to accomplish that, especially since he had promised both of our parents that he was not going to even touch the fireworks. That probably meant that he would just use a jinx to put them in his trick bag.

We continued walking, it seemed to take forever, but we finally made it to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. By that time, I wasn't paying attention to much around me. I guessed that Fred had seen something, because he picked up his pace. I almost had to run to keep up with him. I suddenly heard Fred talking, "Hey, cuz! Missed us, didn't you?"

I had no idea who he was talking to, because I was concentrating so hard on not bringing thoughts of Knockturn Alley back. I wished that I could go back to the owls. They seemed to be able to lull me into a numb sensation that made me think of nothing else. But I wasn't that lucky. Why couldn't I just lose my memory, and Milton's acquaintance could find me, and explain everything? There would be no fear of me telling what I didn't know, was there? Why was Fred the lucky one? Why did I have to be the one that spoke the language of the snake?

Nothing seemed fair, but then I remembered that nothing was ever fair. That saying had been drilled into my head enough as a child.

"Yes, sure, it went all quiet without you two around." I could hear the conversation continuing, but it was as if it was in a different world.

"Where were you this time? Hope not throwing stink pellets at anybody?" Nothing that any of them said made any sense in my head. I couldn't remember, but I figured that was a bad thing.

"We? Of course not, we were just being nice and quiet as usually. You know us. Never cause trouble. Do we James?"

I heard my name and tried to make the words in my head turn into a sentence that made sense, "Huh?" I looked around and saw Albus, Rose and Fred, "Yeah, yeah…"

"What are you thinking?" I felt Albus nudge me.

I wanted to shove him backward. "Nothing, just a bit tired. Fred, did your dad bring any new stuff? Let's go take a look!" And before Albus could ask any more questions, I opened the door to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and plunged into the thick crowd that was in the store. My bitterness about what was happening to me, caused me to walk faster than Fred, and by the time he caught up to me, I was near the back of the store. He grabbed my arm and pulled me into the back area of the store.

He turned me to face him, "What in the world is wrong with you? You're distant, you kept stopping at every store and examining them!" I hadn't noticed that. I thought I had been walking and looking at each store, but then again, I was able to take in quite a lot of description. At the very least I had been walking at a snail's pace, so it was very likely that I had stopped, "You aren't yourself ever since we came out of Knockturn Alley! Look, the hags freaked me out too, but that doesn't mean that you just barricade yourself off from everyone else! You're going to get your dad to start asking questions! I don't want to get in trouble for causing you to be an emotional wreck the rest of your life."

"Alright. So let's find a long lost time-turner and go back in time half an hour." I looked at my watch. We had been gone for longer than half an hour. We had been gone for an hour and a half...if not two hours. I was shocked by this newly-found discovery, but it wasn't surprising considering all of the things that we had done. Everything from Unbreakable Vows, to what seemed like never ending conversations in Parseltongue.

Fred looked at me as though I was crazy, "Yeah, let's just find one of those time-turners that were destroyed."

I immediately defended my idea, "We just wait for someone to come to our time using a time-turner, and then we explain to him that he needs to protect his time-turner."

"Yeah. Let's just do that. Because I'm sure that in ten seconds a little boy is going to walk through that door over there, and he is going to stare at us as though we are crazy, and that boy will be the one who holds the time-turner."

I grabbed a fistful of his shirt and balled my hand into a fist, preparing myself to punch him in the face when I heard the door open. I didn't dare turn to see who it was. Obviously Fred felt the same way, because he was rooted to the spot, staring at me. "You look," he whispered to me.

"You came up with the boy scenario, you look."

"No, I can't look!"

"Why not? You have two eyes!"

"But they are jinxed so that they stay where they are," he retorted.

"Okay, then let's look at the same time."

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No! You KNOW how I feel about kids . . . ."

"I was under the impression you loved them." I smiled slightly.

"I do! But not when they do exactly what I tell them to!" he sounded terrified.

"Fine. I'll look. But when it is nothing, I want you to admit you were wrong."

"Fine! No! I'll look! You don't!" he yelled at me. I knew that playing that card would work. Fred never admitted his faults. Not even to himself.

"Fine . . . ." That was fine by me.

I kept my eyes staring where they were, but couldn't resist when Fred screamed and clawed at my arm, drawing blood. I looked over at the door and saw a young boy, about five or six, staring at us as though we were talking animals. I looked at Fred, and walked over to the boy, hesitating at every step.

I reached him after what seemed like an agonizingly long time. "Do you have a necklace little boy?"

"No!" he yelled, "but I have this!" Suddenly I felt a fake wand that punched people embed itself into my gut.

I caught my breath and waved at the kid, "Thanks." I managed to say before he walked out of the room.

"Fred? Did you maybe see where I put my–" Roxanne asked as she stormed into the compartment, her dark brown hair pulled in a high ponytail. The light dancing on her face lit it up, showing the bronze natural highlights even more than usually. The expression that was plastered on her face was priceless.

"Hello to you too, Roxanne," I said, grinning from ear to ear.

The eyes of Fred's twin sister were stuck on a small deep purple pouch, the one I was hundred percent sure that she'd recognize as Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder. Helping her dad at the shop all summer long, it was guaranteed that she could spot that kind of thing from miles away.

"I brought some spares for you too, sis," Fred said, his expression reminding me of the Cornwall Pixies we had to immobilize last year in our final DADA exams.

"I don't want any of that!" she exclaimed, her green eyes still huge. "How did you _manage_ to sneak all that in here?"

"Jeesh! Roxie, you sound like aunt Hermione!" Fred mocked. "Chillax!"

Roxanne frowned, and the annoyed look seemed to recede from her face, being replaced by something else… Curiosity, I realized. "Seriously now… _How_ did you do that?" Fred's mischievous Cornwall Pixie grin seemed to manifest itself on his twin as well.

I rolled my eyes. _I should have known!_ These two were so different with each other, Roxanne being more quiet and calculating, Fred acting more on impulse and thoughtlessly getting us constantly in trouble, but deep inside, those two were one and the same. Together, they were a force to be reckoned with…

"Well…" Fred started mysteriously, having that old wise master look on his face as he interwove his fingers and crossed his knees, placing his hands on top of them. "It _wasn't _easy…"

Roxanne's attention was fully turned to her brother, seeming fascinated by his achievement. At times like this, I wondered if Roxanne had potential of being a pro prankster, just like her father and brother.

"What's that look for?" Roxanne asked me, half accusing and half teasing.

"Me?" I asked innocently, lifting my eyebrows. "_Nothing, nothing_..." I tried to hold back my laughter and covered my mouth with my fist, turning the laughter into cough. "_Nothing…_"

Man, this was gonna be a good year!


	4. Chapter 1  Scorpius's POV

Chapter One ~ Scorpius's POV

Rolling across my bed, I woke up to a bright morning in the wizarding world with a propitious demeanor towards life. And why wouldn't I? Being the son and heir of Draco Malfoy, I had many things going for me. Belonging to one of the oldest families in the wizarding world never hurt a bit, and already I was predicted to follow my father's and grandfather's footsteps. Leading a major role in the wizarding community, ensuring the obliviousness of humans and most important, maintain supreme secrecy.

Draco Malfoy, my father, was the Prime Minister's right hand man, and many suspected he was behind every decision approved by the minister himself. A man, with a long face, sharp features and an advancing hair receding line, his face was among the most known. He was also a man that inspired complete obedience for he was known not to be endowed with much mercy.

I tousled my already messy from sleep hair, and let out a sigh. It was true, I had everything I could want... But I also had a _secret_.

The secret being I wasn't happy. I hadn't known happiness for a long time if I was to be honest with myself. It had nothing to do with my family... Yet deep inside, all the doubts and the luck of trust in myself, I feared it had everything to do with what I was. Not _who_; I was but a kid trying to find where I fit in the big scheme of things. But I was also the son of a wizard feared and looked up to by many, that simple fact kept me from making friends easily as I was all too busy myself.

Was I lonely? If asked, I would probably brush the question off, as my father was known to say "Ask what you wish to know, but keep quiet that which should not be known."_Who would know better than my father?_ I silently grinned.

At the moment, I was gazing at the ceiling which had seemingly crafted animal animations running around, both magical creatures and human animals. There was harmony in the simple depicted artwork, and it momentarily filled me with peace.

A loud scratching sound roused me from my musings. Penny, the Malfoy house-elf barged in with a sweeper in hand and a contemptuous look. Penny had pledged alliance a year before I had been born, and she had been offered monetary pay, but Penny was like the old elves; the ones who didn't believe in payment of any sort. And instead joined our family, as it was voluntarily, she basically had the same rights as a freed elf even though she pretended otherwise.

Truth be told, I believed down deeply Penny would give her life for anyone in the household. With no outside relations, she was alone in every sense of the word.

_What a way to look at things_, I thought.

Penny would most likely rebuff my thoughts, however kind, an elf's existence was hard, if not downright cruel. With her stark features, she could be deemed hideous according to human standards, her wrinkled skin aged by time didn't help matters, and even her petite stature added to the hideous label. Only her huge blue eyes spoke of wisdom and beauty, her ears were pointy, and she had a mole in her brow.

Being short of stature yet full in the mid area, should've made the elf a bit more horrendous but it wasn't as such. In fact, as I had read Elf folklore, I knew Penny would have been considered a beauty among other elves.

"Master Scorpius," she said, "Master Draco will be back in two hours and you are to be ready by then," her half-shrill voice relayed the message and she left, the door shutting itself closed in her wake.

My mind went back to my musing as I let myself fall back on the bed and watched a dragon and an eagle soar side by side.

My mind reeled, thoughts traveling back to the day when I had first received my Hogwarts acceptance letter. Both of my parents had been waiting for the letter anxiously; I on the other hand couldn't have cared less. But when the letter had indeed arrived, the whole family celebrated, my grandfather Lucius had practically beamed with perpetual pride, and had to check himself. As if they didn't know I was a wizard already. I had accidentally caused things to blow up or move from one place to another at younger ages, just like any other young wizard in the past years.

From then, talks about the Slytherin House had flown about. It was as if it was already a given I would be placed in the Slytherin House just because _all_ the Malfoy's had belonged to that house.

Talk about the pressure. At first I had gave it no mind, but as the sand in the hourglass trickled past, I grew more anxious, never mind the conscious effort I expanded on convincing myself otherwise.

Two things happened when I received his letter, though. One, I was the pride of my family and number two happened to take place in Diagon Alley.

I'd been countless of times to Diagon Alley, the shops filled with magical objects and fascinating on goings that were a daily occurrence in Diagon Alley, being something familiar and expected to me. Hence, I was impervious to the cloaks that ranged from simple cotton to Egyptian silk, I didn't bat an eyelash when concoctions erupted and produced different smells as well as results, and certainly didn't ask foolish questions about the magical world.

I was Scorpius Malfoy, and I was on my way to a prestigious school where the darkest wizard attended his knowledge, greatest Headmaster in all the magical world had once taught, and where one of the greatest battles was fought. All this I knew by reading _The Twentieth Century, a History_ and from my own father, of course who had firsthand accounts of this _great battle_.

That fateful day, my father and mum accompanied me to buy all the required supplies for first years. We opted to apparate, and as I wasn't the legal age to apparate alone, I held tightly to my father's elbow and felt myself being transported.

Next thing I knew, our feet touched solid stone pavement outside of Amanuensis Quills shop.

My mother took out the yellowed parchment envelope with emerald writing; in it were my year list and my acceptance letter. She took out the list letter, reached for her wand in the pocket of her cloak, tapped the parchment once with the tip of her wand, and then handed it over to my father. He took a pouch from his pocket and along with the letter, offered them to me.

Intrigued and curious, I took the objects hesitantly, marveled at the item that landed with an audible thump in my open palm. The texture of the pouch felt as fine silk. Its color was a deep forest green – the hues that forests take on when shadows are more welcoming than sunlight – and the trimming on its edge was pure undiluted silver. The Malfoy Crest was blazoned on the tips of the strings that tied the pouch together.

Among the to's and fro's of the lively wizarding community, my father had given me one of my family's heirlooms. I looked at my father, just to make sure he was certain of giving me the pouch and not about to snatch it back on the pretext that he made a mistake.

It jingled with any slight movement; it was filled with money. Flying broomsticks, my father had given me the pouch full of money!

"Yes, it's yours son. There's enough money to buy your school supplies and have some sickles left over for your term." I marveled how even though his gaze was a soft one, his words were anything but. "I suggest you use it wisely."

Sometimes, like now, I never truly knew if my father loved me. I nevertheless nodded, "Aye, sir."

"Good. Your mother and I are going to pick up some trinkets and stuff for the manor. You are free to go." My mother's gaze filled with love and pride. I never knew how a being as gentle as she could have chosen to spend her entire life with a being such as my father. It baffled me.

I mentally shook my head; wondering always lead to more questions. And I was given an order, to buy my school supplies.

Amanuensis Quills shop snared my attention. The shop was like any other shop that lined Diagon Alley; there was history behind the bricks, but it was clean enough on the outside to inspire confidence as I strode through the front door.

An old wizard approached me, one glance at me and he dispatched me with all my needed supplies. While the old goon piled my stuff, I thought about buying the miscellaneous colored inks, but decided against it. Until I spotted _Invisible Ink_ beside the multi-colored ones. _Oh yes, a must for fun-filled days!_

I was impressed with the wizard's assertion of what I needed. I guess I looked like the new student I was. I tipped my head in gratitude, paid my dues and left. Taking a hasty glance at my letter, I saw a tick, a faint brush of dark ink onto the paper, next to the word _Inks_ on my list. I realized mother enchanted my letter, so that every single thing I bought was marked with that same tick afterward. I decided to go over my school supply list in case I missed anything. One glance at the parchment paper, and I had memorized all my supplies.

Penny's thin figure materialized with an audible pop and blocked my way as I was heading into Flourish and Blotts. She took hold of my recently purchased items and poofed with them. Beat having to carry them around, that's for sure. In the shop, I gathered my books quickly. It was unnerving seeing Muggles; you could always tell Muggles by the way their eyes widened watching simple or silly things, be accompanied by their caregivers while I did my scouting all alone.

I wasn't one to complain, but I'd lie if I didn't confess the sting of envy that plucked at my conscience.

From Flourish and Blotts, I headed to Slug & Jiggers Apothecary, where I was to buy all my potion ingredients. This shop wasn't as clean and shiny as the other two looked, having gathered dust in the highest shelves with the rarest ingredients, the ones seldom purchased and cobwebs decorating the corners where the ceiling met the walls. Along tables of rows and rows of jars and glass containers held simple ingredients to exotic substances. I took my time locating my all the listed materials, sometimes doubling over to get a good look at things that had caught my attention. But when the wizard in charge of the shop started giving me funny looks, from there I quickly paid. Not to my surprise, there waiting was Penny, ready to relieve me of my recent purchases once again.

As I walked further along, I saw groups of students heading to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions and even more students leave the stores with their new robes smugly secured in their arms. I was tempted to go and buy my school robes from there as well, but decided against it. I had never set foot in Madam Malkin's shop.

Instead, I went where we always bought some of my clothes, especially my formal attires, Twilfitt and Tatting's. Typically, the customers of the shop were elderly witches and wizards coming from the highest casts of the wizarding world, as well as the biggest pure blood families. At the moment, there were only a handful of kids milling around the store, they most likely belonged to wealthy and prominent families as everything in the store was more expensive than any other store in Diagon Alley.

"Scorpius Malfoy, so you're off ter school. Are you not, me lad?" Madame Eaves said, proprietor of the shop.

"Yes, ma'am," I managed to mumble as she fidgeted trying to get my measurements correctly.

She stopped suddenly and looked to me, "You're a good Malfoy. Now off yer go. I'm done. You've to wait five minutes and then your robes will be ready."

Then she turned and barked some instructions, another witch approached from the back room and Madame Eaves attended to another costumer. True to her word, not a second more or less, and the robes were ready. During my wait, I once again pondered if Slytherin was to be my House. Would father disown me if I ended up in Gryffindor? Or worst yet, Hufflepuff? No matter how much I tried not dwell on it, I can't help but think of where I'd end up.

Potage's Cauldron Shop was next on my hit list. Funny odors emanated from the cauldrons, but I was afraid of saying anything. There were tons of things put in an orderly way, strategically placed in a row according to size or material or even quality. There were cauldrons listed with numbers from one to ten, and little labels saying if they were made from copper, iron, silver, gold, etcetera hanging from the small handles on their right. Many made my eyes widen at their price, but I decided it would be best if I just minded my own business and bought everything I needed according to my list.

From there, it was basically the same stuff that kept happening: I entered a store, wandered aimlessly for a while, earned weird looks from patrons and owners alike, every single time, Penny was diligently waiting for me outside every store.

I was finally done with my list, but I didn't want to look for mum or father just yet. Content to just cruise around, I was left to wonder aimlessly through alleys, straying away from the widest and most crowded ones and ending up wandering in some long forgotten, dirty and utterly deserted by anything animate. I must've traveled really far away, because the next thing I knew, I found myself at Knockturn Alley's entrance.

Knockturn Alley was dark and somber, hags and weird blokes were to be found there. But I'd paid a visit there couple of times, some with my father and others with grandfather, but never alone. Yet, what did I have to lose? More than sick of seeing happy and merry families shopping, or worse yet, kids milling around stores laughing and jostling about, I decided to venture deeper in the alley.

The Wizarding World was like Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley; lively and bustling with activity was the surface look at our world, but if you dug deeper still, you'd find places like Knockturn Alley, where the society's filth and love of dark magic mixed together, tainting everything around them.

There had been times, when father had brought me here as a child. I had been afraid of the lecherous and cunning eyes of hags and wizards alike. Father soon taught me never to show fear for it was a weakness, something these people feed on as one might find a pastry with chocolate truffle on the top particularly tasty.

As I walked deeper into Knockturn Alley, I remembered nasty episodes. People here didn't take kindly to outsiders; instead they guarded their lairs like rats guard their nest. I mentally shook my head. To get distracted could cost you your life here. Father said it wasn't always so, there had been times when Knockturn Alley hadn't been so unpleasant. Over the years, that had changed.

Passing various stores, made me realize that I've never been so far in. Display windows became murkier with grime encrusted on the surface, and the cobbled ground became nothing more than broken stones and plain dirt. Dark shadows lurked in corners out of sight, hooded figures kept their eyes averted to the ground, and as my feet traveled further, even they became scarce. All the while, thoughts and sights keep me from bolting out of there, I was scared witless!

Visiting Knockturn Alley was not something I'd recommend and it would be the last place I'd suggest you'd get lost in. Imagine my horror, when I realized I was undoubtedly lost and disoriented, having no idea where I came from and where I had to head to find my way out. Some say that walls can shrink with the use of a simple spell, but in those precious seconds, I felt the whole alley shrinking, sucking me into a corner, where a shadow dwelled.

I fought with all my strength to keep a cool, expressionless face on the exterior, and even managed to hold on to the illusion I was really calm long enough, when suddenly two animated voices intruded in the still air.

"…called Huntley and Griddle or something like that."

Without telling my feet to proceed, they moved on their own accord. Damningly curious, I followed the direction, where two kids slightly older than me were talking. They were out of place; people knew how to behave here, yet those two had disturbingly open faces. I knew they were lost even before the same voice spoke, "Well, I think we should have left breadcrumbs or something, because I have no idea where I am."

I scoffed. Bunch of foolish kids really. It was probably their first time in Knockturn Alley by the way their eyes darted around, searching for who-knows-what. Part of me felt sorry for them because they were in exactly the same situation as I was, but another part of me felt insanely jealous. I was lost _alone_, they had each other. Quickly, I shrugged away the feelings of self-pity.

Various wizards and witches caught the scent of fear that clung to those two and began milling around them, closing in. Then, I did feel pity again, but this time for them.

The boy who hadn't uttered a word merely reduced himself to nodding and suddenly spoke up. "Please move out of the way. My cousin and I need to get through."

Pushing from both sides ensued where the boys tried to free themselves from the overwhelming host of wizards that had enclosed around them, and the wizards took care of pushing right back. It wasn't nice. I thought of playing the hero, but I wasn't a fool. If it came to it, I'd push them to the awaiting grasp then let it be me. Does it make me feel selfish and more than a tad bit of insufferable? I would guess so.

Among more shoving, pushing, and words exchanged, the two lads were finally free. The black-haired boy was followed closely by the red-haired one, and they both broke into a jog, putting as much distance between them and the crowd now left behind. My knee-jerk reaction should have been to ignore them both, but something prompted me to follow them. With hurried steps, I trailed after them and in my urgency to follow them, I didn't notice a wizard with a scaly face and glassy eyes until he bumped into me.

I snarled and the old wizard let me pass; there must have been something in my gaze, because I was instantly left alone.

They started to speed up. Afraid of being left behind, I pushed myself to pick up speed. Commotion from where they were at, made them stop, having caught up and I noticed that the brown haired lad had bumped into someone.

Flimsily, I wished I knew their names. I was plotting ways to get closer, when that same boy knelt down. My blood completely drained from my face, once I noticed the large snake lifting its massive body at his eye level. Amazed and freaked out by the odd boy, I thought of leaving them and going back the way we had come.

I was still enthralled by the way the boy and snake locked eyes that I blocked everything out. The other boy kicked him, but he wasn't fazed by it, and once again I wondered at the relationship they must have shared to permit such offenses.

My father didn't have the need to strike me, and I was pretty much 'solo'. For someone to hit me was the epitome of lunacy, yet here I was again, coveting what was idiotic to covet.

Hissing sounds interrupted my train of thoughts, and I lifted my gaze to look around for the source. Not locating it, I focused on the boy again and snake. The boy was hunched even more forward, as if he was concentrating or transfixed at something, but there were many emotions that I could link to snakes. Enthrallment isn't one of them.

That was until I realized the hissing was coming from him. Mind whirling and shaky demeanor, I took hesitant steps backwards. Kids that speak to snakes aren't that common, and they didn't use their wand, how was that even possible? Moments ago they had been running from wizards and witches, and now one of them was talking to a snake. Completely absurd!

More talking, the boy jumped from his position to talk to a bloke I hadn't noticed before due to my enthrallment with the boy and snake. The other boy wasn't too thrilled about the boy talking to the man or snake either by the looks of it; instead, he seemed as if he was on the edge of bolting.

On closer scrutiny, I noticed the man was anything but normal. There was this intense look in his eyes, probing the boy's gaze with his own. Their body posture was stiff at best, as if they were both wary of the other. And what do you know, the man began hissing also.

More hissing ensued, the black-haired nodded eagerly, something prompted me to let out a groan, but quickly cut it off. Whatever those two had gotten themselves into wasn't my business. My reasoning failed, I _was_ following them and not the other way around.

Who was I fooling? My feet were glued to the ground and my eyes were soaking in everything they saw because inside I had this weird feeling that it was important. Why? Well, I didn't know, that is until I heard the next phrase, "Friend of James Potter, do you know how to perform an Unbreakable Vow?"

_James Potter?_ I looked between the two while the surname 'Potter' nagged my memory. It bothered me that I couldn't remember why it bugged me so. Not like Potter is such a common last name.

My breath caught once I processed what the old goon had said. Did he really mean the Unbreakable Vow? An Unbreakable Vow wasn't done in an alley, for Merlin's beard! Few wizards ever did it because of what it meant. I knew of it only because Father had mentioned it on one rare occasion that he'd taken me to his work. I learned to hard facts: few people are foolish enough to commit to it and in case of not keeping the vow, you'd meet a sure demise. Were these to blockheads thick or plain gullible?

Knockturn Alley wasn't the place to trust someone. Why would it be the place to make an Unbreakable Vow?

"You... you speak Snake!" James Potter's friend said, first to the man, then wheeling to his friend James Potter, "You speak Snake as well!"

So the friends weren't such good friends for one not to know something about the other, amusing to say the least. James Potter, on the other hand, remained completely calm and nodded, I was very sure Snake wasn't a language on my part.

The friend and James Potter talked in hushed voices, making it impossible to catch what they were talking about with certainty, the three figures huddled closer. Red smoke and sparks flew from the center of their tight little circle, illuminating the dark path; someone jumped, but I couldn't tell who or why.

Terribly tempted to just interrupt whatever the blazes they were doing, I walked attentively two paces before the man whipped his wand at the red haired boy and shouted a spell. Next thing I knew, the boy had a confused look.

_He wiped his mind slate clean_, I thought in awe. Wiping memories clean wasn't that uncommon, but it did strike most wizards wrong, or so father had said—something about morals. The other boy took off the way they've been running; the other buffoon probably thought they were still running away from the crowd of wizards and hags.

Blast my luck that had me pinned between following the two and the man. Afraid of losing sight of them, I decided to risk everything and follow their trail. Only when I saw the darkness receding and light touching on the dark alley did I breathe a sigh of relief. We were back on Diagon Alley.

Both boys had traveled further from Knockturn Alley's entrance, and I decided enough was enough. They might have saved me from being utterly lost in the alley and dragons know what else, but they were also a magnet for strange things to happen.

How did I know this? For one, one of them speaks 'snake', they are foolish enough to venture to dark places, and make Unbreakable Vows with the first wizard that lost his Merlin marbles. And both reeked of trouble just waiting to happen. Yep, that was enough for me.

Decisively, I turned the other way, not sparing one backward glance. Fortunately, I found both of my parents waiting by the entrance of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes store. The one that was bordering on overcrowded and bustling with activity. The numerous kids and adults of all ages made me uncomfortable, which was why I didn't even bother looking inside.

Mother and father must have thought I would be one more of the customers; they were wrong. Father saw me first. I wish I could say that I came clean about what happened in Knockturn Alley. I wish my father had taken a look at my face and called me out, but it didn't happen. Father had taught me how to hide my thoughts, even from him, especially from him, so when he asked if everything was alright, I lied.

"Did you get everything, Scorpius?" mum asked me, stroking my hair. Although I appreciated the gesture, I wasn't sure I liked my mother acting like I was a baby in the middle of Diagon Alley.

I nodded, my brain blank, and mechanically reached for the list in my pocket, my fingers lightly brushing over the pouch's fabric.

"My, my, she murmured, tapping a long, perfectly manicured nail over the list. You forgot one thing. The most important of all."

"I did?" I said, still lost in thought, barely able to keep up with the conversation.

"You didn't go for your wand! Well, worry not, we still have time!" She placed a hand on my shoulder and led me through one of the most crowded streets, our shoes clicking every time they touched the cobbled pavement. Soon I noticed my father stood always a few steps behind, almost as if he was putting a distance between himself and us. "Draco?" mum called to him. "Are you coming?"

Father gave her a grim smile and waved his hand. "I have a few things to take care of. You can go and I'll meet you later," he assured mum and left, his dark cloak waving behind him.

We headed to Olivander's. It was one of the filthiest shops in Diagon Alley, something which could almost compete with Borgins and Bargs according to father, but Olivander was undoubtedly the best wand maker in Great Britain. And I was to take my supplies _only_ from the best.

An old bell, someday probably coated with golden paint, rang, announcing our entrance. The wooden floorboards had a greyish tint in them, from old age and not being properly taken care of. In my mind, I pictured the perfectly parquetted, polished wooden floor in the Malfoy Manor, the one that Penny was so fond of. There was none of that beauty on what I was stepping on right now. Dust created a thin layer on the counter and a filthy piece of fabric, probably meant to dust off the poor piece of furniture, was abandoned on it, in public view. Strangely, I found it comforting; there was something in Knockturn alley that knocks someone's marbles for sure.

"I have told you a thousand times, Mathew, tidying is the most important thing for the shop! You're incorrigible! We are giving the customers the worst of images!" an old man's shaky voice scolded.

"But, I haven't found time! The shop is maddeningly crowded at all hours this time of the year, you know that!" a much younger man tried to defend himself.

Knowing it was rude to eavesdrop on their conversation, I slowly took a few steps towards the door and opened and closed it again, causing the bell to ring once more, to make the presence of customers obvious to them. They fell silent and I made my way back to the counter. A man dressed in red showed up, his hair appearing messy and showing the first highlights of grey under his pointy hat.

He smiled at me, what I knew that must have been a forced smile, and asked me if I was the one needing a new wand. I nodded and he lifted a measuring tape with his wand from the counter and the tape started stretching across my arms, calculating the length of my forearm and my fingers.

An old man with a sharp gaze emerged from the back of the shop and glared at us for a second. He met my eyes steadily, and I almost flinched. He shook his head, muttering something I was hundred percent sure that included "The Malfoys" in it and vanished again, walking to the direction he came from.

While the man in red, who was probably Mathew, was searching for a fitting wand for me through the endless stacks of boxes, I pondered on the old man's reaction to our sight. I had come to the conclusion that he was Mr. Olivander, the old wand maker; the one who gave to my parents and to countless other wizards and witches their wands. Father had never gotten into details about the Hogwarts battle and what had taken place before it, but I knew that the Dark Lord wanted to do something with Olivander and that my grandfather, Lucius, had been involved in that. It explained Mr. Olivander's dislike for our family, and I was beginning to realize that was why my father had refused to join us into the wand shop.

"Hmmm... Try this one," Mathew said, waking me from my thoughts. He handed me a light colored wand, and the label glued on the side of the box read:

8'2''

Birch Wood

Dragon Heart String

I gripped the wand in my hand, careful not to do any kind of damage as I waved it. Absolutely nothing happened. I was told that a sense of warmth surged through your body when you found the right one. Were it the wrong wand, it should just cause some damage to objects resting nearby. Still, the wand didn't respond to me in _any_ way. It was as if I held a plain stick I picked from a field.

"I guess not," Mathew mumbled and took it back. He moved across the room, gathering about half a dozen boxes and piling them on top of another for the next couple of minutes. My palms had begun sweating and I was wondering what went wrong with the wand. Or was it maybe _me_? Had there been a mistake? What if I wouldn't manage to find a wand that worked for me, not even the wrong way? The most terrible of all thoughts hit me abruptly. Could I be... a Squib? I had indeed managed to cast some magic through the years, but Squibs could do some very basic spells as well...

My face turned paper white as the bizarre thoughts of plain madness and panic passed right through my head, and to hide my distress from my mother, I rubbed my face with my palms, pretending I was tired.

Mathew was back and once he placed the boxes on the counter, a big cloud of dust lifted, causing me to cough. "I'm sorry about that," he apologized and opened one by one the boxes with the wands, placing them one next to another in front of me.

My anxiety exacerbated as the time passed and none of the wands would give away even the slightest sign of magic. I was biting the inside of my lip nervously, but didn't let my distress show on the exterior. I made sure my face didn't betray any kind of emotion. Fifteen wands later, I was shivering involuntarily, albeit it wasn't cold. Mathew seemed to have grown tired of this, and my mother had lost her excitement about "the most important of all things". A wrinkle of worry showed on her forehead, and she smoothed it over with her hand just a couple of seconds after it showed every time.

Mathew seemed skeptical as he handed me over the next wand, which we all silently wished would be the last I'd have to try. "That one is the last of its kind left in stock; my grandfather finished it just a week ago," he explained. It's made from walnut and in its core he put a salamander tail."

I observed the wand from his hands before trying to touch it. Its color was a rich brown, dark and turning reddish in the light of the rusty oil lantern above us. Not quite like cherry, but not the dull grey-brown of ash wood either. It seemed polished and shone, and for a second, I wondered if my fingerprints would be left on it after I let go. I took in a brave breath and took it from Mathew's hand, which was holding it from the tip, the handle turned my way.

For a second it felt too cold, as if it was made of stone instead of wood, but then it warmed, the temperature almost the same with my hand's. A breeze, warm like a baby dragon's breath, blew on my face, messing my hair and causing me to close my eyes. When the breeze receded, I looked at my wand in wonder and saw amber and golden sparks flying from the tip of it before vanishing in the dust filled air of the room.

I had the faint impression Mathew sighed in relief and muttered something such as, "Finally!" but I wasn't able to tell for sure; so caught up in the discovery of my wand.

My mother pulled out a few sickles before I had the chance to pull out the pouch father had handed over to me. "Keep them for later," she told me and patted my shoulder.

Mr. Olivander appeared again, angry looking, scrutinizing me with his eyes, as if he could see all the way under my skin and into my soul. "You..." he said darkly, repeatedly pointing to my direction with his pointer finger, "You may be different that your ancestors." He shook his head and narrowing his eyes continued, "I hope you are." And then he withdrew in the shadows of the back of the shop again.

I felt myself go cold. I didn't want to be different than my predecessors. I wanted to live up to the Malfoy name, and I was wondering now if it was such a good thing. With a blank face, I turned away from the old man and the doubts he left me with.

Mathew apologized for his grandfather's behavior, saying he was a little crabby this morning. I knew there was more than a bad night's sleep behind that kind of behavior, and so did Mathew. We left the shop quickly, meeting my father waiting for us just a few shops farther down from Olivander's.

An hour later on the dot, father was there, not a second later than he'd said. Penny had my clothes ready on a chair by my bed by that time, and I was fully dressed. Thanks to our house-elf, my trunk was packed as well, ready for two days now, all my new books and robes stuffed inside. I took a last look at my face in the mirror, smoothed my pale blond hair, and walked hurriedly down the stairs. Penny was on fast on my heels and my trunk, levitating several inches from the ground due to her powers, followed us all the way to the living room.

The dark carpet, adorned with an intricate pattern of greens, scarlet's and opaque blues, was stretched from one side of the room to another. The flames in the fireplace crackled, licking the pieces of wood like the tongue of a snake, consuming them greedily. Father, in his favorite black cloak, stood nearby, his look softening as I came in the room. Penny bowed respectfully and let the trunk drop on the floor with a soft thump.

"Master Draco, Master Scorpius, is there anything else you want me to do?" she asked in her high pitched voice.

"Where is Rapax?" I asked, trying to spot the cage of my pet. Rapax was a Jarvey, some kind of magical ferret, so to say. Saying that father hated him would be an understatement, but he didn't let his emotions show nonetheless.

Penny seemed upset about forgetting to bring him downstairs and squealing an apology, she vanished with a loud pop and in a few seconds, she was back with the cage. I could see the small label with my initials, S.M., on its metallic surface in vengeance green ink.

"Thank you, Penny," I said, trying to show her it was no big deal. And it was no big deal. It was the twentieth century, and things for the elfish community had changed, and for the better.

Rapax put his long nails on the metallic grid of the transportation cage, the pale white fur being visible, just as his pink muzzle. Father averted his eyes from the cage and stretching his hand towards my direction, he asked, "Shall we go?"

I nodded and with one hand held on to his fingers while the other gripped my trunk. In a blink of an eye, after a dizzying moment of spinning around, we were behind the barrier, our backs touching the wall opposite from Hogwarts Express in Platform 9 ¾.

The steam locomotive roared to life, wrapping the whole platform in white, fog-like smoke. The characteristic pop of Penny apparating, made us aware of her presence. She hurried to lift my trunk and Rapax's cage and place them on a trolley which was forgotten next to a bench. We walked across the platform, father greeting friends and colleagues of his and I nodded in acknowledgment as well; typical formalities, just like every time I walked side by side with my father.

At some point, the smoke grew so dense we had to come to a half so that we wouldn't bump on anyone. Once the air around us cleared again, I prepared to move, but father stood there, looking at a crowd of a laughing family of wizards. The group was mostly consisted of redheads, and there was a man with dark hair and round glasses with them, as well as a boy about my age who looked similar to the man. They were probably father and son. To my surprise, the man turned to our direction and gave a small wave to my father. Father nodded back curtly, and we started moving again.

In a blur of a second, I thought I saw a familiar face; the boy from Knockturn Alley. The one who spoke "snake". I blinked several times, trying to make sure I was seeing right, but when I looked again, he was gone. In the polyphony of loud, lively voices, I thought I recognized his, and trying to spot him, I saw the back of yet another black-haired boy in the big redhead family. With his back turned on me though, I never knew for sure if he was the same lad.

We loaded my luggage and Rapax, who didn't miss the change to make some short but extremely rude remarks, in the last compartment where the entire student luggage went.

I felt myself reddened when Rapax jibbed at oncoming students, "Mum is a troll!" His remarks could be heard by almost everyone on the platform.

After exchanging a goodbye hug my father for one last time, I climbed on the train and away from Rapax.

Without bothering with looking for old friends and acquaintances, I moved to the nearest, less crowded compartment and took a seat, opening my Charms Textbook, which I had brought with me to keep myself occupied during the journey. I placed the dark leather postman bag where I had stuffed my robes into on the luggage rack above my head, and ignoring the passing, ever-changing landscape on my right, I started reading about levitating spells.


	5. Chapter 2  Albus's POV

Chapter Two ~ Albus's POV

The train shook abruptly, causing me to fall back in my seat. I slipped my head out of the door, peeking out in the corridor trying to figure out what happened, like almost every other student in the train. Rose had "Hogwarts, a History" opened on her lap, reading about the Great Hall _again_. Ignis, finally tired of playing with my chocolate frog, had let it go. It was still jumping around restlessly; it probably wouldn't stop until it melted, or someone took it. The Kneazle was sleeping now, curled next to Rose.

I exchanged a look with a brown haired girl, who looked curiously around as well. We both sat back as soon as the train started to move. A while later the lady with the food trolley was passing from compartment to compartment, assuring us that the way the train shook before was nothing worrisome and that something had been probably caught in the wheels.

"Rose, I'm going to take a look around," I informed my cousin and stood up.

"Hmmm…" she murmured, absorbed with her book.

As soon as the door opened the chocolate frog jumped out and vanished somewhere. _Well, no problem, I couldn't eat it anyway after Ignis toying with it on the train's carpet anyway…_

Walking around, passing in front of other compartments, I realized that most students were gathered in big groups of five or even more students, while Rose and I were completely isolated. This was because we didn't know many students here, except of course our huge family… each of whom was with their own friends.

I pulled out of my pocket a small chocolate bar and after making sure it wasn't from Uncle George's shop and wouldn't make me throw up or have any of the other equally unpleasant side-effects, I took a bite. Dad always used to say that a small bite of chocolate helps with stress.

Without realizing it, I stumbled upon the brown haired girl I had seen before.

"I'm sorry, I didn't notice you…" I started to apologize.

"It's okay. I was rushing out… I didn't notice you either." She gave me a sweet smile and tucked her hair behind her ear, which made me think of my own hair, which was messy as usual, like dad's. Dad had told me that his uncle, Vernon Dursley, had hated it. I had met the Dursleys just once, so I had to trust Dad on that one.

"I'm Albus," I introduced myself, thinking how rude it would be to leave without at least saying my name.

"I'm Emily Rose. You can just call me Emily."

"Funny. My cousin's name is Rose."

We shook hands and she seemed to notice the half-eaten piece of chocolate and her expression finally turned… relieved. "Are you Muggle-born too? I picked a random compartment and it filled with children who were all from wizard families and I just felt so… I mean of all compartments I had to go to_ this_ one… I didn't dare to utter a word, I was so afraid I'd make a fool of myself… everyone was talking about magic like it was something so natural…"

I wanted to cut her off, but she seemed to be really happy she could finally get it all out, so I thought it would be nicer if I let her finish first.

"Actually, I am from a wizard family," I said quietly.

She blushed violet from embarrassment and her hair fell in her face again. "So sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"It's okay. You're not the only one feeling lost in here. It's my first year so I can't say I'm in a better position. Everyone in my family are with their own friends; too busy to show me and my cousin around. Of course she's a moving encyclopaedia, but…" My words were meant to soothe her but she looked even more nervous than before. "You know what? Come with me and my cousin. I think you really would like her."

I turned around and hurried back to my compartment. Rose had taken off her shoes and had brought her knees close to her chest, her nose literally buried in the book. I cleared my throat discreetly and she looked up.

"Rose, this is Emily. Emily, that's my cousin, Rose."

Rose jumped up, placing the leather-bound, yellow-paged book on the booth and shook Emily's hand. "Nice to meet you. So you're a first year as well?"

"Yes. And an absolutely horrified one too," she admitted.

"Why?" Rose asked curiously. She was so lucky. In that clever mind of hers most things were black and white. If she knew how something worked, she didn't really need anything else; she was absolutely sure of how things would happen. Like the fact that we were both going to Gryffindor, because of our character traits and the history that our families had with this specific House.

"I don't know what is going to happen."

"Did you check your school books? 'Hogwarts, a History' covers almost everything according to my mom. I brought her copy instead of buying a new one. It has notes all over the place." Rose lifted the book and offered it to Emily, who hesitantly took it and sat next to Ignis, looking at him as if he'd jump on her any second now.

"My books are all second-hand. I got them from a small shop in Diagon Alley. Almost all of them have dog tags and look really fragile… I didn't really dare to open them. Some looked like they'd fall apart or become pulverized by the smallest touch."

"Oh, don't worry about it. There is a really simple spell to fix that. If you give me the books when we get to school I can repair them for you." Among others, Rose had checked out her Charms and Transfiguration spells and was excited to try some as soon as we set foot in Hogwarts. That was the only thing she had talked about during the past week.

Emily looked at Rose as if she had spoken Greek or something, but nodded. "Okay."

"So, it's really easy to explain how students get sorted out."

"S-s-sorted out? What do you mean?"

"It's nothing frightening, don't worry about it," I said, smiling. The thoughts of me becoming a Slytherin came rushing back. _But Rose said that we don't fit Slytherin. We will_ not _be Slytherin. We're hundred percent Gryffindor…_

Rose opened the book again, which still lay in Emily's arms and I saw the school's crest in a coloured picture, where the four emblems of the Houses were moving, just like most pictures in magical books.

"The school is split into four Houses," Rose said. "Gryffindor; that's the red one. Its symbol is the Lion. Then there is Hufflepuff; see the yellow piece of the crest right under Gryffindor's piece? It has the Badger as its symbol. Ravenclaw is the blue one with the Raven and the green one with the Snake is Slytherin." Emily was completely silent while Rose explained to her.

"Then, there is the Sorting Hat." She flipped the page, pointing at a moving picture of a grey-brown hat and tapping her thin pink finger on it. The had moved its tip from side to side and appeared to be singing. I silently wished it wouldn't sing me to my House in front of everyone.

"They put it on your head, it figures out your character and decides which House fits you best. And while you are at school, you sleep in your House's dormitories, eat at your House's tables, have classes with the students that are at the same House as you and so on."

Emily's face seemed to relax a little and her hands stopped being two tight fists half hidden by the book.

"That seems easy. Do you know in which House you are going to be?" she asked.

"Um, we're not–" I didn't manage to finish my sentence because Rose told her that it we were going to Gryffindor, like everyone else in our family had.

We sat and talked to Emily, answering all her questions about the school, and the wizarding world. It wasn't much later when Ignis woke up, looking sleepily around the compartment. It took him only seconds to spot the intruder and… rub his head against her sweater. Emily was lucky that Ignis appeared to like her. If not, she would probably have a new scratch somewhere on her hands or face by now. Ignis was an odd creature, unbelievably suspicious by his nature. All Kneazles were meant to be like that, to be able to spot the liars and the frauds. But since that wasn't the case I didn't consider it necessary to mention it.

"Did you bring a pet along?" I asked, thinking about my new, still unnamed owl.

Emily shook her head. "No… I wasn't sure I could afford feeding it… Pet foods are really expensive…"

"Hm hmm…" Rose seemed thoughtful. "I think the school takes care of that. I could ask my parents if you want."

"Um… thanks. But I'm not sure I'll get to buy one this year."

"Well, it's not bad to know anyway," Rose replied, beaming at her.

"I have an owl," I said. "But it has no name yet. My dad picked a name from a history book for his own owl when he was a student, so I thought I could do the same maybe…"

"An owl? Wow. Can I see it?" she asked, smiling shyly.

"Sure," I agreed. I remembered dad loading the owl in a carriage towards the end of the train, where only luggage and pets were placed.

Uneasy hooting and hisses echoed as the various pets around the carriage came around and noticed our entrance. Emily flinched at the sounds and approached with small, quiet steps.

"It's okay," I assured her. "They mean no harm; we just woke them up."

She gave me a shaky nod and Rose pulled both mine and Emily's hand as she spotted my owl and rushed to it. The owl, startled by our noisy footsteps on the metallic floor of the carriage, flew back, its wings hitting against the back of the bars and the cage almost fell on the ground.

"Hey, hey, it's alright," I kept saying as I caught the cage until the owl stilled. It bit gently my finger and I knew it had calmed down.

"Doesn't it hurt you?" Emily asked, taking some hesitant steps forward and crooking her head on the side to take a better look. My owl kept nibbling on my finger, never breaking the skin though.

"No." I chuckled. "But it tickles a little."

With a demanding meow Ignis announced his presence and climbed on my trunk, sitting right next to the cage.

Rose and Ignis exchanged a look before Rose said, "Don't even think about it. That bird is way too big for you to eat." Ignis looked down as if in disappointment and started licking his paws lazily.

"The only reason you wouldn't let your cat eat my owl is because it's too _big_ for him?" I exclaimed.

Rose gave me a foxy grin and stroked Ignis's head.

A shrieking, ear-piercing voice made me turn around, forgetting my cousin and our new friend momentarily. "Idiots! Idiots! You're all idiots!"

"What's that?" Emily asked, covering her ears with her hands.

"I dunno," I said, curiously looking around, trying to spot the source of the insulting and annoying noise.

"Idiots!" the shrieking voice said again.

"Probably some kind of object that's meant to insult everyone who's in the same room with them?" I murmured, deciding it was coming from somewhere on my left.

"Careful," Emily said.

"Don't be scared. Whatever it is, it can't be dangerous. Our luggage is checked before the train leaves the station," Mrs. Know-All said.

Her explanation didn't appear to hold much comfort for Emily. I took a couple more steps forward. The voice didn't say anything else again and I was beginning to doubt I was going the right way. Something started shaking on the pile of luggage and pet transport cages, making me think twice if I should move again.

Rose pushed past me, mouthing _Chicken_ at me. That made me follow her instantly and peek over her shoulder as she spotted the moving cage. It had the initials S.H.M. carved over the lock.

"Maybe you shouldn't touch it," Emily spoke my thoughts aloud and I was glad she did, because I didn't want to give Rose any more reason to call me a chicken. She was always a little braver than me, a real daredevil. I wasn't a chicken though. Just preferred to stay out of trouble.

"Come on, what's gonna happen? It's not like there's a 'Monstrous Book of Monsters' in it!" Rose said, smiling cunningly.

"What's a Monstrous… whatever?" Emily asked and by the sound of it, she didn't like the name. I remembered the growling book on the big study room at the first floor at our house… It was always tied and I had never seen Dad or Mum touch it. It seemed dangerous. And Rose knowing about it and acting like she had actually opened it before made the whole thing just worse. I decided it wasn't a good idea to explain all that to Emily though.

"Never mind. Just a book. No big deal," I muttered.

Rose's hands in the meantime were working miracles, trying to pull the cage from between other trunks. "Besides," she continued, unaware of Emily's worry, "I believe I know what is in it."

"Oh, sure you do," I said sarcastically. I moved back, giving her space to pull the cage out. I didn't want that thing landing on my face anyway.

She placed it on the floor and it kept rattling and shaking. Rose placed a searching hand to her head. After a lot of effort she pulled a thin, colourful hair clip from her bushy hair and began picking at the lock.

"I don't think it's right to be picking locks…" Emily murmured shyly, looking around as if she was expecting someone to be spying on us. Rose just shrugged and her smile grew bigger, causing her freckled nose to look even wider than it was.

"Where did you learn to do that?" I asked. If I didn't know it was my cousin kneeling in front of a cage, picking the lock right now, I'd bet it would be either my other cousin, Fred, or my brother, James. They were more like the sort you'd imagine being blamed for 'breaking and entering'.

"I learned a trick or two this summer when I was hanging out with Freddie." Her eyes sparkled with some kind of wild excitement and I wasn't sure I wanted to know what other tricks she had learned.

The lock clicked and Rose placed the clip back in her hair. "Eureka!" she said, pushing the cage's door open. Ignis's form seemed distorted as the hair on his back and his lion-like tail rose, his whiskers twisting as he hissed angrily. He didn't move from my trunk though.

Something hairy flashed into view and rushed onto Rose's lap. Rose smiled triumphantly and petted the constantly moving fur ball. I was beginning to realize that the long, striped, brown and white, fluffy thing that was moving was its tail. The other side ended on a pointy pink nose and two small, round, faint pink ears.

"I– I– I've seen ferrets before… We have some around home… And they're not that big," Emily said.

_Ferrets! That was the word I was looking for._

"What's that thing, Rose?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest. "A forest troll?"

"That's what trolls are like?" Emily asked, her eyes growing huge with surprise.

"Don't listen to him," Rose told her. "Even a Muggle would know that trolls don't look like this." I frowned and she stuck her tongue out at me. "It's a Jarvey." The thing stood finally still and I realized it was indeed like an oversized ferret. It nudged Rose's chin and pulled at her shirt. "It won't hurt you. Come on, touch it," Rose urged Emily.

"Are you sure?"

"Yep. Hundred percent."

Emily had barely started stretching her arm, when the Jarvey leaped out of Rose's arms and went to Emily. For a second, I was afraid it was going to attack to her, but to my surprise it sniffed her shoes and rubbed his muzzle against her leg.

"It's not so bad, is it?" my cousin asked Emily and she shook her head, relief washing over her face.

"It seems to have spent a lot of time around people," Emily agreed.

The metallic door of the carriage was slid open with a loud bang and all of us instantly turned around to see who came in. The yellow light from the carriage behind him, lit the outline of his figure, but his face was dark. I could make out a thin body, not too tall; more childish. The frame of his head was surrounded by short, bleached-blond hair. In the dimming afternoon light I could see he had pale skin, as if the sun didn't see him much. He was dressed in the school robes and was holding something long and thin, probably a wand.

Any words that I tried to say seemed to be stuck at the tip of my tongue, not daring to go any further. My throat felt tight and dry and I exchanged a nervous glance with Rose, who finally, even this late, had realized how much trouble this could get us into.

I saw the figure moving, a hand stretching on the side, looking for the light switch.

The room turned brighter, his face now in full view. He was that boy we had seen at the platform, the one with the blond hair and the grey eyes. Crabbious Malfoy or something like that… I couldn't recall his first name… It had to do with some kind of animal… _Something with pinchers._

"Hi, Scorpius," Rose said calmly, as if they were actually friends.

_Scorpius! Yes, that's the name!_ I thought and peeked at the Jarvey's cage. S.M. That's what it must mean. Scorpius Malfoy.

Scorpius didn't appear to be too enthusiastic about my cousin's greeting. "What are you doing?" he demanded, lifting his wand. He was holding it all wrong though… I could swear he didn't know how to use it any more than I did.

Rose's Kneazle hopped off my trunk finally, landing gracefully on four hairy legs and walking towards us, coming to stand next to Rose. Ignis's hair seemed to rise from standing too close to the Jarvey, but it wasn't his biggest concern now. He was eyeing Scorpius carefully.

"We came to check on my cousin's owl," Rose stated simply, as if she spoke the truth. Now that I came to think about it… She was being honest.

"Why are you holding my Jarvey?" He moved his gaze from Rose to Emily, who looked really nervous.

"I'm not holding it! It's standing at my feet," Emily said, sounding more confident than she probably was.

"It was out of the cage, jumping around when we came here," Rose continued. _Okay, now_ that _is lying._ "And put that thing down before you get hurt." She pointed at his wand with a small pink finger, but he ignored her.

"I don't believe you."

Rose shrugged and got on her feet, dusting herself off. "As you wish."

"Annoying small cage! Annooooying small cage!" the high-pitched, scream-like voice reached my ears again. Until now I hadn't believed that it was really the Jarvey making that sound, but seeing its mouth moving made it all real. It hurried to get around Scorpius's feet, repeating the same thing in its eardrum-piercing tone.

A smirk of annoyance was plastered on Scorpius's face, but he hid his wand in his school robes.

"Maybe you should take it with you wherever you're seating," Rose suggested. "Doesn't seem to like that cage much."

Without another word, Scorpius turned around, the Jarvey right on his tracks, fluffy striped tail going up and down.

As soon as he was out of sight and the door slid back in place, I glared at my cousin.

"_What_?" she asked, grinning cunningly.

"We could have gotten in trouble already."

"But we _didn't_, right?"

I took a deep breath, trying to swallow back my annoyance. "No. We didn't."

"Maybe we should go back and sit," Emily suggested, trying to ease the tension between us. I rarely fought with my cousin. Rose and I were practically siblings. The inseparable, never fighting kind. I couldn't help but be a little edgy though. No matter what Rose said, I had a bad feeling about the Sorting Hat. I didn't know why… It was just that James's words kept spinning around my head.

_"I'm sorry Albus, you're just doomed to be in Slytherin. You have all of the characteristics of someone I knew who ended up in there."_

What if, for some reason, James was right? Maybe he had some kind of premonition… because he's a Parseltongue? I couldn't help but wonder.

We headed back to the compartment, where we were sitting before, Rose and Emily talking excitedly, while I was too lost in thought to even pay attention to what they were saying. I took a book out of the small bag Mum had made me take with me and noticed my school robe stuck in it.

"We should change soon as well," I reminded them and started reading, trying to forget Houses and Sorting Hats and anything that had to do with our arrival at Hogwarts.


End file.
